Richard Nantel

Short message service, or SMS, is now 15 years old. According to Wikipedia, the first commercial SMS message was sent by a Neil Papworth to a Richard Jarvis on December 3, 1992. The text of this message was “Merry Christmas.”

Sent today, that message would more likely have been “Mrry Xms.”

SMS messaging has dramatically changed the written word. Limited to 160 characters, human ingenuity and adaptability have created an entirely new way of writing. As in Shakespeare’s day, spelling is no longer that important. It’s all about getting your message across using the least possible number of characters. Although you could certainly spend another ten cents on a second message to complete what you wanted to say, you’d be a loser by not being able to get the message across in one.

Typing an SMS using a cell phone key pad is no simple matter. At times, you need to hit the same key multiple times to scroll to the letter you need. This has spawned SMS competitions that reward the fastest and most accurate text messagers. (If you’re older than 16, don’t even bother entering. You don’t stand a chance of winning.)

Although there are no limits to the length of a typed phrase using e-mail or writing on someone’s wall in Facebook, SMS-talk is everywhere.

An SMS version of the Bible has been published:

“In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth”

There are also SMS poetry competitions:

“Pls, stop sendg msgs2ths
no, i am not linda,
I hv not slept w/yr sis,
+i wd nvr call any1′s ma a slag.
Gd luk w/viag.
Luv, yr wrong no. xxx”

As mobile learning takes off, it’s going to seem odd to have unabbreviated, correctly spelled text appearing on these small screens. Hip instructional designers may want to start working on their feedback messages:

“Uv passed da tst. Pls muv on to da nxt modul.”

I’m not at all in love with my laptop.

It was purchased just over a year ago for about $1,200. It has a battery that lasts about 2.5 hours, which gets me about 30 percent of the way on most of my business trips. And, although it was marketed as lightweight, it feels like I’m carrying a bag of potatoes, especially when you factor in the weight of the shoulder bag, power cord, power-bar, etc. that I also need to lug around.

This laptop is also loaded with big, bloated software applications, most of which I don’t need when traveling. All I really need is a Web browser, an e-mail client, a simple word processor, and perhaps a spreadsheet.

Hardware makers seem to have clued into the fact that there’s a huge market for lightweight, low-cost laptop computers. Interestingly, most of these new products are being designed for learning in the K-12 academic world. But, they would certainly appeal to travelers and business professionals.

Some of my recent posts have been about the $199 XO laptop designed for the One Laptop per Child initiative. Mine hasn’t arrived yet, but, if I can get it out of my daughter’s hands, I’m excited about the prospect of getting a computer that will free me from having to sit on the floor at an airport between flights sharing the one power outlet with four other travelers waiting for our laptops to charge. With the XO laptop, I’ll simply turn a crank by hand to charge the super energy-efficient device. This will also be the greatest gadget to have next time the power goes off during a storm. By the way, the Give One Get One promotion has been extended to December 31st, so you still have a chance to get one.

Intel’s Classmate PC is another addition to this market. This is a small, rugged Windows machine, again designed for K-12. It’s currently in mass production and will be made available in various markets as pilot launches. No news yet whether consumers will be able to get one. The laptop has an advertised battery life of four hours.

Asus has also come out with a relatively low-cost, lightweight laptop. The Eee PC 4G weighs less than two pounds and starts at $399. But, it has a conventional battery that lasts about three hours. This machine appears to lack the ruggedness of many computers currently being designed for younger learners.

The innovations taking place in the design of laptop computers for K-12 education will spill over into consumer products. The result will be machines that are easier on our backs, shoulders, and pocket books, as well as devices that free us from having to be near power outlets every three hours.

Back in June, I wrote that large publishers such as HarperCollins and Random House are currently focusing a lot of energy and resources to publishing e-books. These publishers reported that, although sales for e-books never lived up to expectations since their launch in the mid to late 1990s, they now feel this is about to change.

Ãœber-retailer Amazon seems to agree. Next week, Amazon is launching its own e-book reader, the Kindle.

The Kindle is EVDO-enabled, allowing you to subscribe to and download electronic content such as newspaper stories. Amazon is obviously hoping people use the direct connection to its online store to purchase e-books. The device is also audio-enabled, allowing you to listen to audio books and podcasts.

The photo of the Kindle above is the one circulating on the Web. If Amazon’s e-book device really looks like this, it will be a huge flop. From a design perspective, this is one ugly machine, reminiscent of computers from the early 1980s. In a world that now pays a premium for sexy electronic toys such as iPhones, what was Amazon thinking?

The topic of e-books always seems to ruffle feathers. Traditional paper book lovers can’t get their heads around reading their beloved books on-screen. Early e-book adopters have grown bitter that e-books never seemed to gain much ground and that the world of e-books is mired in format turf wars.

Where am I on the subject of e-books?

The manufacturing of paper is one of the top five energy consumers in the United States. Given that much of this energy is derived from carbon-spewing power plants, I applaud any attempts to reduce paper consumption.

Stranded at the grocery checkout line while the person ahead of me counts out the exact change in pennies and nickles, I’ll often turn to my Palm TX PDA, loaded up with my favorite RSS newsfeeds. But, to be honest, this isn’t a pleasant experience. The screen is tiny, navigation is a pain, and the text is hard to read. I’d never choose to read this way.

I want to be an e-book evangelist. But, I know of no device yet that will convince me to switch. (From what I’ve read and seen so far, the Amazon Kindle isn’t going to be it either.) That’s sure to change in a couple of years. Who knows, after changing the way people listen to music, perhaps Apple, or another innovative, design-centered company, will change how we read.

When I was in my late 30s, my eye doctor told me that, by the age of 40, I’d begin to notice a change in my ability to focus up close. So, I exercised more, upped my intake of lycopeine-rich fruits and vegetables, and felt confident that I’d be able to stop the aging process through willpower.

By the age of 41, I was holding restaurant menus at arm’s length and complaining about dim lighting. I’m now rarely without a cheap pair of pharmacy reading glasses in my shirt pocket (and in my car, in my briefcase, etc.). Read the rest of this entry »