eReader eBook Costs

I read a lot. In 2010 I read 110 books and for 2011 I’ve read 113 through Christmas. I read a lot of these books as eBooks and I keep seeing stories about what eReader is better, as if it were a hardware only choice. What about availability of books? What about the cost of books? Surely not all platforms are equal right?

So I did some research and pulled together this infographic based on the 113 books I’ve read so far this year. I wanted to find out how many of those books would have been available as eBooks and what they would have cost on various platforms specifically for Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Google Books and Apple iBooks.

Click the infographic for details.

I priced each book as of 12/25/11 figuring folks would grab their shiny new eReaders and buy a book. The results were very clear.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble stood out for book availability with Amazon having 91% of my books available as a eBooks. If you like anything outside of the mainstream Amazon is your best bet with only one of my titles available as an eBook on other platforms but not on Amazon. Both Google and Apple were hit or miss for a lot of titles with only 59 of 113 titles available on all four platforms.

Amazon was the king of pricing hands down. They were never undersold and if you had bought the 59 books available on all 4 platforms on Kindle instead of Nook, you would have saved just about enough money to buy a low end Kindle.

iPhone Reminders and Outlook/Exchange Tasks

So I bought an iPhone 4 not a 4S. (Does the “S” stand for “Siri”?) because my Droid died about 3 weeks before the big announcement. By died I mean refused to charge. It was the connector not the battery.

Frankly I’m thoroughly enjoying the iPhone 4. Enough people think I’m strange without adding talking to my phone to the list. The update to iOS 5 was slightly painful but not worse than what I’ve been through with Android or Windows Mobile and it didn’t break anything permanently (cough…Android, Froyo, Droid Launcher…cough)

But folks seem to have missed something in the Siri buzz. The Reminders app is actually pretty cool. All the reviews seem stuck on the idea that it will remind you about a task when your near that location but I have yet to see anyone write about the fact that it integrates Tasks from Exchange. I’ve finally got Exchange Mail/Calendar/Contacts/Tasks on a single device using built in apps.

The last time this happened was Windows Mobile 6.5. Apparently folks who review iPhones don’t have corporate jobs that include Exchange or they don’t have tasks to complete. I guess it’s possible that they just gave up on having synced/integrated tasks on their phone.

I’m thrilled that reminders are now on iOS 5 and I’m thrilled that they sync to that magical app known as Outlook 2010.

Airplane Travel Tip-How to get more legroom

The rules are that you have to have your carry bag under the seat in front of you for takeoff and landing. The rules don’t say anything about mid flight.So if you need a little more leg room to stretch out during that flight, after takeoff, move your bag under your knees.

I travel with a pretty small computer bag but it still gets in the way when trying to sleep so after takeoff, I move the bag under my knees or under the slight overhang between the end of my seat and the bar below designed to contain the carryon of the person behind me. Even a large backpack can fit under your knees allowing you to stretch out for some shut eye on a long flight in a middle seat.

My wife does this on car trips in the passenger seat but I never really thought to do it on airplane flights until recently and it works like a charm.

You’ll have to stow everything again for landing but hopefully you’ll be more rested by then.

TSA Expedited Traveler Exprience

On my way home from #atl today I got picked for the new #tsa #expedited traveller program. I had signed up a while back but never heard anything.

In short, the experience was fantastic.

The T gate checkpoint in atl now has 3 lanes. One for non-medallion members, a regular medallion lane and an expedited lane. Pre-screeners segregate folks as they walk up. The medallion side has a second screener who scan boarding passes with a handheld device to separate expedited travelers. Mine passed. Prior to security, a TSA agent checks ID and re-scans the boarding pass one more time.

After that security is straightforward. X-ray and bag x-ray. No removing shoes plus laptop and liquids stayed in their bags. No naked body scan.

I was picked for a hand swab but others went straight through. Even with that it was crazy fast. I could seriously get used to this.

Plus no one scribbled their initials uselessly on my boarding pass.

Delta: Honesty, Integrity, Mutual Respect = Bait & Switch

I’m a Platinum level Delta flyer and I’m on a Delta jet every week. I’m not Diamond level because of the number of times I go into Atlanta and stay there. As a Platinum member Delta gives me a set number of “System wide Upgrades” allowing me to get a “free” first class upgrade without worrying about my place in the upgrade line.

Until I try to use them of course.

For example, this weekend I went to buy a ticket. I have a flexible travel schedule in this case and the travel is 2 months out. I found that I could buy a coach ticket for $477. Delta’s website helpfully offered that for $306 I could pay to upgrade to first class. Total $783.

I called and tried to use a system wide upgrade certificate. Since the coach fare has to be booked in certain fair codes, my coach ticket with the free upgrade would cost me $678 or roughly $100 less than just buying a first class ticket.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that I’m supplementing the cost of my “free” upgrade by paying 2/3 of the cost.

As someone who flies every week on Delta this feels like bait and switch. I tried to explain this to the Delta agent who struggled with the fact that they couldn’t see the internet offer of $306. She suggested I take the $306 offer. That of course, misses the point entirely.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. It seems to happen every time I try to use an upgrade certificate which is why all of mine went unused last year.

Delta’s new safety video is preceded by a message from Delta CEO Richard Anderson who extols their commitment to honesty, integrity and mutual respect. It’s not what you say, it’s what you do that demonstrates honesty, integrity and mutual respect and I don’t see that when trying to their “free” upgrades.