I have spent the last three days at the O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference in New York. This conference is designed to address the issues related to publishing and technology. This was my second year to attend. Five of my colleagues from Thomas Nelson accompanied me.

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I bought the Kindle 1. Then earlier this year I bought the Kindle 2. I was enthusiastic about both devices. But after nearly two years of using them on a regular basis, I have to admit, I still prefer bound books.

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By now, you have no doubt heard about the new Apple iPhone 3G S. It looks pretty cool, but I’m not too excited about the pricing—at least for existing AT&T customers. At any rate, Julian Smith, a very bright, young filmmaker, did a video tribute to the new device last week. You may remember Julian: he’s the one who created the popular 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

If you have been following my blog for more than a week, you know that I am a big proponent of social media. We have used it at Thomas Nelson to achieve some dramatic results, particularly for a few of our authors who don’t otherwise have a media platform. As a result, I am convinced that social media marketing works. Except when it doesn’t.

Yesterday, I was reading a blog post by Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week. I am a fan of his, so when I discovered that he had worked with StumbleUpon to develop a new blog traffic builder called Su.pr (pronounced “Super”), I got very excited. Continue Reading

In a word, yes. At least for me. I probably don’t get more than two or three voice mail messages a month. Usually, these are calls from sales people who are prospecting or automated voice mail messages (e.g., a message from Walgreen’s, letting me know that my prescription is ready).

In my experience, the problem with voice mail is two-fold: (1) it’s more difficult to retrieve a message as compared to the alternatives and (2) it’s more difficult to integrate into my workflow. I hate to listen to a rambling voice mail message. People can ramble via email, too, but email is easier to scan and determine what the sender wants.

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A while back, I gave my impressions of the Kindle 2 after one week of use. In that post, I attempted to focus on what I liked about Amazon’s latest eBook reader. I also said that “I still don’t think this is the device that will dramatically change the game for publishing.”

For the most part, Amazon addressed the problems with the original Kindle. However, they still have a ways to go if they are going to capture the interest of the majority of readers. Here’s my list of what is still missing:

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It’s no secret that I am a big fan of the Amazon Kindle 2. However, whenever I write about it (as I did recently here and here), I always have someone who says, “I will never convert to an eBook reader. I just love the feel of a book in my hands.”

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Last week I “unboxed” the Amazon Kindle 2 in a short video on my blog. I also shared my first impressions. I have now used the device for about a week, so I thought I would share my thoughts in a little more depth.

I still don’t think this is the device that will dramatically change the game for publishing. However, I do believe it is another step in the right direction. I also believe I have more clarity on what is still missing and where e-books are going. I plan to discuss these topics in future posts.

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At Thomas Nelson we use Microsoft Outlook for Windows and Microsoft Entourage for Mac. They are connected to our Microsoft Exchange Server. This setup has been our corporate standard for years.

I have used Entourage since I converted to the Mac about four years ago. However, I have had some calendar issues, and I am tired of the clunky user interface. I was using Entourage for both my corporate and personal email. Continue Reading

Yesterday, I received my copy of the Amazon Kindle 2 [affiliate link]. Gail and I are on vacation, so I had them send it to me here. I figured this would be good time to get acquainted with the new device, before I head back to the hustle and bustle of work. In this video, I unbox the Kindle 2 and share my first impressions.

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