2010, Year of the eReader and portable computing, and the regeneration of newspapers

Having glanced at some CES 2010 coverage today, I have noticed a massive trend (as has everyone else to be honest). Portable ‘eReaders’ and tablet or ‘slate’ devices as they are now being branded. One of which that took my eye is the Skiff eReader.

Rail replacement bus service

I hate bus replacements. I want to use the train, beacuse it’s quicker, quieter and just more pleasent. But at the weekend down in Kent everything gets fucked up.

Seems there’s a lot of work going on on weekends between sittingbourn/faversham areas and Canterbury east. I knownit must be important otherwise South Eastern Railways wouldn’t be paying the travelmasters bus company to ship it’s passengers around, but it’s still annoying.

I think it’s because it’s a train company, I’ve had enough with them! First Capital Connect, the operator where I used to live as a sixth form student thought we could afford £600 to use the train to get to college each year. When we complained (we being an awful lot of parents and students) they said that the cost was perfectly fine and it doesn’t know why we were complaining.

We complained because it used to be about £150/200 for a year. The MD never listened to questions about why a carpark that was free now costs £1.50 a day. I offered advice to get people back in it, as people were using a piece of land behind the station to park instead! I was given a stupid excuse and basically told to grow up. I may only be 18, but I have common and business sense and it seems that the FCC don’t!

Rant over and it’s starting to hurt typing on this iPhone.

Web Advertising 2.0

I was watching a video interview with Digg.com founder Kevin Rose earlier and he made an interesting point about advertising. It was mentioned that some web advertising is a bit too overdramatic and users don’t really want to be seeing some product being advertised. Content consumers would much prefer being shown what kind of things are in the pipeline at a certain company, or what is being done behind the scenes.