Without question, the biggest loss in tech in 2011 was the passing of Steve Jobs. The visionary mind in him helped breathe new life into not just Apple, but also the world of consumer technology and how it impacts our lifestyles. His authorized biography may be the book everyone has talked about regarding his life, but his thoughts and processes were largely based on things he actually said. I, Steve: Steve Jobs In His Own Words is a book filled with nothing but quotes from the man himself.

I’m an unabashed fan of everything Kobo does. I’ve long held that Kobo gets ereading better than anyone else—even that other book seller based in Seattle—and their recent Kobo Pulse announcement shows that they are on the same, solid track as always. By connecting the Kobo app with Facebook and your Facebook friends, Kobo brings the experience of reading a book with a group of friends in a book club to every page of your book. Creepy? Maybe (you can turn it off), but I think the capability in the app is going to set the stage for more collaboration—think classrooms people—in the future.

I’ve had the Kobo Touch Edition for about a week now, and as you might remember from my first impressions post, I was pretty sure that I would like the device. A week on, I’m happy to say that I do like the device a lot, but it isn’t a perfect eReader. But maybe perfection isn’t what we should be shooting for either.

When our fearless leader Laura, knowing that I was an unabashed fan of Kobo, found herself with a Kobo Touch Edition sitting on her desk dying to be reviewed, she kindly dropped it into a courier pack for me so I could experience what reading on a Kobo device was like. I’ve had a few hours to set it up, load it with books, and do a little reading, so now is a perfect time for you to read my first impressions of the device.

I have a soft spot for Kobo (despite the fact you can’t buy my books through them). I still maintain that the Kobo reader app for iOS is the best eBook app out there. Yes, I’ve tried the others, but Kobo just wins time and again for flexibility and ease of use. Kobo has also been a leader in innovation and features (like social media connnection). Maybe because they are more independent than Nook and Kindle are, maybe it’s just being a startup and knowing that you have big challengers to face. Regardless, Kobo is pushing again with new offerings to self publish your books through them as well as book sharing (due later this year) viaMacgasm. But the more important question is—will the publishing industry buy into it.

The price of digital content always amazes me. 

If you look at the sticker price for a paperback and the cost to buy the digital edition - they're the same.  The digital edition doesnt have manufacturing costs, shipping or retail costs - it's just a series of bits and bytes.  Yet it's $15 to buy an eBook and $15 to buy a paperback.

If you just got an eReader for Christmas, why not check out digital books from the library - for free?

Man I'm going to catch heck for this recommendation, but bear with me for a moment....

As far as eReaders go we know who the big kid in the sandbox is. Fine, you can't buy those terribly easily without getting hit with duty and taxes thrown in for funsies. Personally I had my eye on the Sony Touch Edition for a long, long while. Being able to flip through the pages, scribble notes with the stylus and $250 is a good price. Yep, you can buy and read books from lots of places on it, but...that isn't my top choice for an eReader. Yeah, you know what I'm going to say...

The iPad is my choice for an eReader.

I’ve written before about the flawed state-of-the-art that exists with eBook readers. It all relates to business model and DRM. Though today, I think I may change my tune, maybe just modify it a bit - thanks to iTunes (believe it or not).

Recently I bought a simple eBook reader online. My wife has one too, from a different manufacturer. All’s good; they both work great and make it easier to read books in situations where turning pages is harder than pressing a button (on the treadmill, for example). It’s also great to have a nice light device that I can carry with me in a form-factor thinner than most paperbacks. Or should I say, almost all’s good; unlike a physical book, we can’t share our purchased eBooks between our two different devices easily. Even if they’re in the ‘portable’ ePub format.

Over the weekend some comments raised good points about longevity of media. It was on a post about Microsoft planning to shut down Xbox Live for the original Xbox gaming console. This got me thinking that I'd kinda heard these arguments before. Perhaps applied to different systems, maybe even to different technology, but they weren't new...

Given all the hype eBook readers are getting these days, especially during and after CES, I thought I'd explore which was more valuable, the data object, or the data.

Lately I've been testing, reviewing and thinking about eBooks and eBook readers, which has got me to wondering about the value of a 'real' book, the dead-tree kind.

Readers of this Techblog or of my personal blog will know that I'm a fan of eBook technology. I love the idea of being able to take my personal library with me anywhere, to read at any time. Today I'm going to 'touch' on one of Sony's units.

Summer vacations usually involve hours of travel to your destination. When I'm not driving, I like to read, but don't really like the bulk of carrying around 3-5 books. This is one of the reasons that eBook readers are worth their weight. Read on, gentle reader, and I'll share my thoughts and experiences with this one, fine, sample...