DESIGN FETISH: “Power To The Poster” by Micah Max

THE RACK: Cavalry

HALF-ASSED PRODUCT REVIEWS: The Kindle DX

I recently got myself a Kindle DX as a present for finishing up a particularly onerous project. As a constant reader who happens to live with another afflicted with the syndrome, I was interested in it as a way to save space and to serve as an iPod for books, a resource I could take with me, loaded with something for me to read at all times. Unlike most bibliophiles, I’ve never had the diehard fetishistic attachment for the physical; I’m too neurotic about creases in the spine or dings on the cover to genuinely enjoy having a book as more than a decorative object. Don’t get me wrong: I love a good book cover more than most, and I get into things like paper grade and type spacing, but placing a book in my courier bag and taking it outside of the home with me actually fills me with a bit of dread.

(Yes, I know that replacing a few $10 paperbacks with a $500 device is ludicrous. But indulge me, OK?)

The physical act of reading on the Kindle is a pleasure: the screen’s contrast is very close to the printed page and I learned to ignore the (admittedly disconcerting at first) screen flicker when “turning” pages. One common complain that I’ve come across is that the screen is not backlit, which means that you need a light source to read the books. The non-backlit screen, however, also means that you get a longer battery life and eyestrain is greatly reduced.

What’s most surprising about the Kindle’s screen is how well it handles black and white graphics. Much has been made of the lack of color (and trust me, I would love, love, love to put my Fantastic Four DVD archive onto this thing,) but the sixteen shades of gray are more than adequate for most black and white photos or graphics. As an experiment, I put the last year’s worth of The Rack on it and Birdie’s black and white art looks very nice; I can’t imagine most manga and indie comics wouldn’t be comparable. Can you imagine being able to carry around the complete Usagi Yojimbo or that recent ZOT! collection on one device that’s about the size of a magazine? There are issues related to the page refresh when it comes to graphics, but that’s something further generations will surely improve upon.

I also enjoy having a pretty good bookstore available at all times. Last night, I bought Roger Ebert’s The Great Movies in bed and was reading it in under a minute. That’s about as convenient as it comes. One problem is the selection: the Kindle Store says it offers 300,000+ books, but there’s quite a few titles missing that I have a specific interest in owning on the Kindle. James Ellroy’s bibliography is very underrepresented, there’s a paucity of Iain M. Banks’s material outside of a couple of the Culture novels, and there’s nothing from Hunter S. Thompson’s journalistic efforts. Hopefully, rights issues are being worked out and I’ve spent some time clicking on the “Tell The Publisher You’d Like This On The Kindle!” links scattered throughout Amazon’s site to make sure that I get a word in edgewise.

There’s other features that are part of the Kindle DX that are, at best, prototypes (hence them being under the “experimental” menu:) the text-to-speech feature is more frightening than convenient and the web browser is slower than molasses thanks to its reliance on Amazon’s Whispernet. While I have no need for the former, the latter would be very nice, especially if they improved the keyboard which is, right now, best for doing very brief searches in the Kindle Store.

Is the DX worth the price tag? Maybe not for most people in its current form, but there was a time when many thought that Apple was insane for offering an 5-gig hard drive with white, tinny earbuds for $400.

DESIGN FETISH: Art Of The Arcade

Art Of The Arcade celebrates design from the early days of quarter-munching, ADD-inducing, Apokoliptic training devices. So much great stuff to look at and it’s going to grow as the curator goes through his collection.

Today, I am 35.

THE RACK: Staff Picks for the Week of August 19, 2009

CONVERSATIONS WITH SIMS: Brospotting

CHURCH: Oh shit.

CHURCH: I have an idea.

CHURCH: Let’s get an artist and do.

CHURCH: LET’S BE BROS AGAIN

SIMS: CALL THE BROLICE

CHURCH: THE SEVEN BROMURAI

SIMS: I enjoy the musicals of STEVEN BRONDHEIM

CHURCH: You know what cartoon I love? THE VENTURE BROs.

CHURCH: I was so sad with BROTLESTAR GALACTIBRO ended.

SIMS: You know who’s hot? Angelina Brolie.

CHURCH: Good movie to watch when you’re baked? FEAR AND BROTHING IN LAS VEGAS

CHURCH: You know what my favorite Samurai movie is? YOJIMBRO.

SIMS: Yojimbro’s pretty good. But I like SANJUBRO. Then again, I like anything with Toshibro Mifune.

CHURCH: If you do, then HIGH AND BRO is a movie you should see.

SIMS: I’m jonesing for chocolate and caramel. You got any BROLOS on you?

CHURCH: No, but I got some BROREOS.

SIMS: LBROL.

Design Fetish: “Revenge” by Lernert Engelberts & Sander Plug

Click to watch on WeLoveOurWork.com.
Thanks, Dafna!

I don’t like podcasts, but…

…I got a sneak listen of the first installment of Chris Sims’s and Eugene Ahn’s War Rocket Ajax and think it’s pretty terrific. It moves quickly, it’s funny, and the interview with Matt Fraction is informed and informative.

Go download it and discover that you agree!

THE RACK: Plans

What’s Bruce Wayne Reading?

We all know that Batman can’t be Batmanning 24/7: he needs some downtime where he can relax and maybe even kick back with a good book. The lead story in Detective Comics #422, “Highway To Nowhere,” begins with just such a moment: Bruce Wayne clad in his smoking jacket, relaxing with… Ghost Story?

You know and I know that B-Dub can do better, and that’s why God invented Photoshop!

And what’s this? Why, it’s a blank template so you can make your own! So, you know, do that!

DESIGN FETISH: Missle Energy Drink packaging by Robinsson Cravents

Captain Marvel: Book Editor

THE RACK: The Talk

DESIGN FETISH: Hello Kitty X MIMOBOT Flash Drives

If I showed up with my Doonesbury Solar Calculator, these people would worship me as a god.

DESIGN FETISH: Die Gute Fabrik’s “Mutiatone”

For Sims, On His Birthday

THE RACK: Sense

DESIGN FETISH: “The Queen Of Dinosaur Planet” 2 Print by Kevin Dart