I started skateboarding years and years ago and have watched the boards get bigger and bigger but, overall, the technology was pretty much the same.  Then I saw a Flowboard in a sporting goods store.

The Flowboard is unique to say the least: It has 14 wheels, 7 at each end.  The trucks are completely rigid.  Instead of pivoting against a spring or cushion as most skateboards do, the Flowboard puts a set of wheels along an rigid steel arc that is perhaps 60 degrees from perpendicular to the board.  This makes the each wheel have a slightly greater angle than the next as you move out from the center.  Instead of pushing against a spring to turn, then, you roll from one set of wheels to another.  The greater the tilt of the board, the greater the angle between the wheels and the sharper it turns.

For most of the last week I have been talking about the e-book market and the design and day-to-day use of Amazon’s Kindle reader.  Today I’m going to wrap up my series on the Kindle by talking about the process of obtaining books for the thing, and touch on a few of its features outside of its main raison d’etre.

So, what is it like to get books for the thing?

Over the last several days I’ve talked about the publishing environment that the Kindle was introduced into, about the technologies that make it possible, and its physical design.  Today we get to the thing most people really care about: Is it nice to read with, or does it suck?  And how hard is it to load up with books?

Yesterday I spoke a little about the basic qualities that I thought can make a successful e-book reader, and why the Amazon Kindle does a much better job at it than anything else to date.  Today I want to talk about the actual design of the device and what it’s like to live with it day-to-day.

The Kindle is Amazon’s bid for the e-book market, and their first-ever consumer electronics device.  Yesterday I looked into the history of e-book readers to see what failed and why.  Today I am going to look at what Amazon did to overcome the challenges of providing a commercially successful e-book technology.

Back on the “cool robot” theme, here’s someone that did not consult with their legal department before reprogramming the factory robot.

My first thought was, “What could possibly go wrong?” I think I would have put a little more space between my head and the floor and walls....

Over the next few days I’m going to be doing an in-depth review of Amazon’s Kindle, a device that has alternatively been described as hopeless, the future of reading, and even (I kid you not) “sexy.” The truth is, of course, somewhere between the extremes.

Unlike almost everyone else who has written about the Kindle, I bought one in the first five minutes after they went on sale.  Given the poor showing of previous e-book readers, and the $400 price tag, I was very surprised when it sold out in a matter of hours.  I thought I was going to me one of the few fools to spend that kind of money on it, especially given the poor showing of the superficially similar Sony Readers.  Despite many reviewers questioning the whole point of buying an e-book reader, the Kindle has remained on back-order for months.  This implies that there was considerable pent-up demand waiting for the proper product.