The Kindle by Amazon.com with its wireless Whispernet is definitely a compelling choice, but I can’t get beyond its physical design. Even though it looks better in person than in pictures, it just looks really retro and clunky compared to other devices currently on the market. I mean, look at the Sony PRS-700 reader. Sleek and shiny with lovely curves and six-inch touchscreen E-Ink display… I like how the line of buttons was switched to horizontal, compared to the earlier PRS-505 model.

And while it would be useful to be able to download books straight from the internet onto the device, I admit that I’m a compulsive book buyer, and it might be good for my bank account to require an extra step between the “I’d like a book” thought and the actual purchase.

Additionally, no matter what device you use, the fact remains that many non-fiction books still aren’t available in e-book format. For example, what about the Strategic Asia series by The National Bureau of Asian Research? The newest edition, Strategic Asia 2008–09: Challenges and Choices was launched in September 2008 but isn’t even available on amazon.com in print form (none of the earlier editions are available in e-book format). Or there was an interesting book I read a while back called Koizumi Diplomacy: Japan’s Kantei Approach to Foreign and Defense Affairs–nope, not a chance that one’s been digitalized. So bottom line: the weak link for all digital readers is the content that you can purchase for them. If you want to read fiction and mainstream non-fiction, then it shouldn’t be an issue. For others, book availability is definitely a problem.

	Planet Eye: Interactive travel guide where users contribute pictures, reviews, and other information about travel destinations worldwide.
	Del.izzy: Website that uses the google search engine to crawl inside your delicious bookmarks. I’m not sure how effective it is but it’s certainly a good idea.
	Useranme Check: This site probably falls into the category of “useful” rather than “interesting.” It’s only purpose is to check usernames against a long list of social platforms — useful if you’re trying to think up a new username or if you suspect someone out there has been using yours!

And this one isn’t web 2.0, but I found it on 100shiki.com and couldn’t pass it up: Netflix Origami (origami classics adapted for the shape of Netflix envelope tear-offs).

On another note, I read this on another blog and thought it was interesting and probably quite true:

While Generation Y (The Millennials) are entering the workforce with unprecedented knowledge of how to communicate with each other using social networks, micromedia communities, blogs, and all things social, their business discipline and work ethic are not comparable to that of Baby Boomers and Generation X.

Are we too caught up in the the tools, in the process, in the novelty of what’s current today and obsolete tomorrow? There are some serious problems with America these days… it’s kind of scary, actually.

Unfortunately, it’s not a given that in the end the best tools will prevail. Since web 2.0 is a community-driven concept, any new tool has to reach a critical mass of active users before it become self-sustaining — something sort of like Malcolm Gladwell’s “tipping point.” Therefore, I’ll take this moment to advertise some of the tools I’ve found most useful, innovative, well-designed, or otherwise intriguing.

	Flickr: Probably the best online photo-sharing site out there — easy to navigate, endlessly flexible, enough professional-quality photos to make my jaw drop
	del.icio.us: Although there are countless social bookmarking sites, the top English-language sites are probably digg, del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon. What choose del.icio.us? It seems to have the most Japanese-language users.
	Spicy Elephant: A newcomer to the web 2.0 scene, this site lets users create decks of virtual flashcards and share them with other users. Not an entirely new concept, but the interface is easy to use, and the color scheme is soothing.
	Timetoast: Users create interactive timelines to share over the web. There’s a lot of randomness but also some pretty nice submissions.
	Forvo: An interesting concerpt still in beta phase, this site is a collection of words spoken in dozens of language by (supposedly) native speakers across the world.

Take social networking, for example. This article on the blog “ReadWriteWeb” discusses Facebook’s inability to gain majority market shares in Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean markets. Likewise, this graphic from the French paper Le Monde illustrates the different penetration ratios of various blogging and social networking sites across the world.

There are schools of blogging techies that aren’t satisfied any of these “browser-based” networking sites and are instead holding out for the emergence of an exemplary mobile-device-based service before placing their bets. The “holy grail” for these networks, in the words of one writer is “physical presence detection and information exchange with other users.” In simple English, this means that when your mobile device “see’s” another person’s mobile device, then the two machines exchange information.

This authors continues: “Technical barriers aren’t an issue – cell phone tower triangulation and bluetooth solve a lot of the problems of locating users and transmitting information between phones. What’s harder is just plain getting a critical mass of users.” So who will win the networking war? I’ve no idea, but frankly, I’d rather just turn my cellphone off.

And on another note: Adobe, which recently launched Creative Suite 3, has created a promotion site called “Adobe Cards” as publicity. Although I’ve no intention of purchasing this software, the animation sequence is pretty neat.

Well, fear no more. This website conveniently maps the location of over 17,000 pay phones in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Just input in your current address and how far you’re willing to hike, and the results (including snapshots of each phone itself) will appear overlayed on Google Maps. Amazing. Just one slight problem — Everyone in Japan seems to access the internet via their cellphones, so if you don’t have one, this website may not be be of much help.

On a different note, the Newseum in DC will open tomorrow at its new downtown location over six years after closing its doors in Rosslyn. Although admission will be free on opening day, starting Saturday, a visit will set you back a whooping $20 — making the Newseum the most expensive museum in DC (and I remember how we all cringed at the International Spy Museum‘s $18).

In the nation’s capital where the majority of museums are free, the Spy Museum has actually done surprising well, but it will be interesting to see if mass media holds the same caché for tourists as espionage.

COLOURlovers: Describing itself as a “resource that monitors and influences color trends,” this site allows users to upload pallets “essentially combinations of colors” for other users to download. Never have to match your own colors again.

flipbook.in: Remarkable Japanese-language web tool that enables users to create their own 2-D animations. Click on the middle tab to view others’ contributions. Although some are pretty armature, others are surprisingly good.

CSS Beauty: When I hearken back to my webdesigning days, there’s a part of me that’s always appreciative of CSS and its potential. Yes, perhaps it’s a little “old school,” but this gallery shows that CSS is still beautiful.

Sprint Waitless: Series of short “time-saving” instructional videos from Sprint. Although some are meant to be funny, others might actually be of value to anyone living life on a tight schedule.

Tasty: An interesting web tool for web 2.0 junkies, enter a URL into this site, an it will graphically display what people have tagged it with on the social bookmarking site del.icio.us.

I dove over to Roosevelt Island yesterday and re-discovered scenes from my youth–I was too young to remember, but I’ve seen a photo series my mom took of me playing with a ball around the memorial’s fountains. It’s interesting how clearly you can see the Georgetown waterfront across the Potomac River when you look out from the island’s edge. The Georgetown University bells chime as clearly if you were standing beneath Healy Tower on campus.

Some links I’ve recently added to my ever-expanding collection:

• Western Maryland Scenic Railroad
• Washington DC Dragon Boat Festival
• Filmfest DC: Arabian Sights
• Blog: Ikea Hacker