Amazon Unveils "Kindle Fire" Tablet to Rival iPad

Image from CNet

Over the years, we've adopted new technologies with more and more monthly charges. My $50 cable bill swelled to nearly $200 when high-speed internet and cable phone are added in. I've got a $7.99 Netflix subscription that I can't seem to get rid of. I have a smart phone (as does The Other Half), which has pushed our $60 mobile phone bill to $120. It happens in stages. But my media charges are now up to nearly $320 per month! And now various companies are trying to convince me I should have a tablet computing device too? Bah!

Right now, I have a desktop PC and a Mac PowerBook, in addition to my 4G phone. Near as I can figure, the iPad, the new Amazon Kindle Fire, and other tablets are basically jumbo smart phones that aren't phones. Which kind of makes sense, since smart phones are used as phones only part of the time. But these pads are still very small. 7"? My phone is 4.3". My Mac is 15". I really don't need a middle step, and can't figure out why I would. And I'm certainly not adding yet another monthly fee. If I could figure out a use for it though, the Kindle Fire is priced right. As long as it hooks to wi-fi, maybe I'll check it ut.


[Excerpt]

Kindle Fire an iPad killer? Yes. It's the price, stupid


The company's new Kindle Fire tablet, a 7-inch touch-screen device powered by Amazon's content ecosystem and priced at just $199, may be an orange toApple's iPad apple, but I'd argue that it's an iPad killer all the same. . .

Read more: Cnet

John McCain Invented Blackberry, Wi-Fi, Cell Phones?

Photo from Huffington Post

Democrats are getting a good guffaw at John McCain's expense over surrogate Douglas Holtz-Eakin's claim that McCain helped invent the Blackberry--in response to a question about the economy. He was deflecting of course, and didn't say McCain "invented" the Blackberry (something that would be hard to do, since it was invented in Canada), but neither did Al Gore ever say he "invented" the internet. And Republicans are still getting mileage out of that one, eight years later.

But what isn't being reported as widely, is that John McCain himself has made similar claims about a variety of technologies he doesn't even know how to use. It's true, I tell you!

[Excerpt]

How John McCain Invented Cell Phones and WiFi

I am the former chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The Committee plays a major role in the development of technology policy, specifically any legislation affecting communications services, the Internet, cable television and other technologies. Under my guiding hand, Congress developed a wireless spectrum policy that spurred the rapid rise of mobile phones and Wi-Fi technology that enables Americans to surf the web while sitting at a coffee shop, airport lounge, or public park. . .

Read more at: Daily Kos