We've all seen tech demos of location aware augmented reality apps in recent years, but what else can be done with this "format"? The writing on a gravestone is also an example of site specific literature, writes Andrew Wilson at The Literary Platform, because it depends on its physical location to create a memory. He continues, "Of course all books make memories, but site specific literature uses 'here' to help make them." Wilson then goes on to examine other possible characteristics of this largely experimental concept of writing, such as it's non-linear, it relies on the real world for world building,...

It turns out that the iPod Touch 4 is going to be just as good an e-book reader as the iPhone 4, but is not quite up to par in other respects. On GigaOm, Kevin C. Tofel writes about why the iPod Touch 4 is almost but not quite the “contract-free iPhone” Jobs touted it as. In particular, he focuses on the lack of built-in GPS, data plan connectivity, and the 5 megapixel camera that graces the iPhone 4. The reason for this is that, regardless of what the pricing article I cited the other day indicates, Apple actually...

Thanks to its free, always-on Internet, the Kindle can be used for more than just e-books (as xkcd so aptly pointed out). The Kindle World Blog has a great example of this, with a post that includes detailed instructions for using a Kindle to produce Google Maps driving directions—very useful when you’re in the car and realize you’re not entirely sure how to get where you’re going. Needless to say, this sort of thing has the potential to be very distracting. If you do use those instructions, you should be sure to keep your eyes on the road...

The Apple iPad will not kill the Kindle. In this installment of my Kindle shakedown series, I contend that the ideal ereader should not become a multipurpose device like the forthcoming iPad, or the HP Slate, or whatever comes next. It should instead become a fully dual-purpose device, with two screens dedicated for the two purposes of reading and writing. Some say the multipurpose iPad will kill the single-purpose Kindle. I disagree. This year I have discovered the joy of single-purpose devices. Most computers are multipurpose devices, designed to do everything but not always in the best way. I easily prefer...