The Kobo Reader, at $150, costs less than the Kindle 6-inch and the nook, and does less, too. But the Kobo’s svelte profile and light weight make it convenient for reading in some settings. In all, it’s an attractive new entry in the e-book sweepstakes. All three of these e-ink readers have advantages over the iPad, which I find I’m using less and less for reading books.

My take on Spring Design’s Alex e-reader, recorded in Cambridge, Mass., on May 4, 2010.  With comparison’s to the Barnes & Noble nook and Amazon’s Kindle.

One thing I did not mention in this video is that the nook is running the new 1.3 operating software, which added web browsing and other features.

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We spoke 12 days after I had bought my 16GB WiFi-only iPad at the Apple Store at the Cherry Creek Mall in Denver. (Click here for video of my memorable entrance into the store.)  In that time, my fascination with the device kept growing.

In this interview, Bryan and I discuss the issue of “serious readers” and whether they will be drawn more to the Kindle than the iPad.  I have to confess that since our conversation, I am less inclined to make this distinction.  I have read too many accounts like this one of people using the iPad for very serious reading, and my own experience has shown me that I am perfectly at home reading on the iPad for up to an hour.  Yes, I sense some discomfort in my eyes from the LCD screen, but the ability to turn down the brightness from within most of the iPad reading apps I use–iBooks, Kindle, Kobo, and Stanza, but not Barnes & Noble–makes it manageable.

I remain in love with my Kindle and am quite sure that reports of its demise are exaggerations, as Mark Twain would have put it. I don’t see this as an either-or proposition.  The iPad’s arrival is wondrous, for many reasons beyond the realm of reading books.  The Kindle owns the outdoors, and any time I go with Darlene to read outside at a cafe, the iPad stays at home.   At home, sometimes I pick up the Kindle, and sometimes I pick up the iPad.  I haven’t figured out which situation is which, but I’m having lots of fun experimenting.

And tomorrow, I’ll have another device to explore–the Alex by Spring Design.  Stay tuned!

CORRECTION: The monthly price of The Wall Street Journal iPad app is $17.29, which is $2.30 more than The Financial Times US edition on Kindle at $14.99.  In the interview, I guessed that the Journal is $5 more.

Click here to download audio of the interview by Bryan.

Still, this is a mysteriously compelling creation. It has my curiosity fired up to 11, as if I’m a remnant human who never saw a pencil before, wondering what to do with it. That may just be the three hours of sleep talking!

I’m sorry this video player shows as a black screen. I promise: If you click on it, it will play.

His agency helps authors build relationships using print, radio, TV, and online. Their clients include everything from the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, to true crime, to Christian books.

If you have any interest in publishing your own work taking advantage of online tools, I think you’ll find Rusty’s advice valuable and though-provoking.  In general, I found it intriguing to see into the fast-changing world of publishing through the eyes of a literary publicist who loves his job and clearly knows what he’s doing. Click here to follow Rusty on Twitter.

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After signing his books (including the staged “signing” of the copy I’d downloaded to my Kindle, in photo at right), Doug agreed to do an interview for the podcast while I drove him to the airport for his flight home to New York. This gave me a chance to hear his views about the role of eBooks in the long sweep of history that he is considering these days in his critique of Internet culture and the corporatization of life in general.

Despite his weighty obsessions and somber views, Douglas Rushkoff in person is full of life and wit.  He described his preparation for an appearance in July, 2009, on the Colbert Report interview hot seat, and I’ve included the audio of that encounter at the end of the podcast. Click here for the video.

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In the early going, my own lizard brain resisted with a couple of clever arguments (noted in this blog post) to Seth’s exhortation, which will come as no surprise to him.  Lizard-like resistance is what a linchpin always faces and overcomes.

In addition to his new book, we talked about Seth’s critique of the traditional publishing industry and his vision of how Amazon, or someone, could remake the eBook platform into something much more compelling as a way for authors and readers to connect.

I prepared for our conversation by watching videos of Seth’s TED talk in May, 2009, and his presentation at last year’s O’Reilly Tools of Change conference.

Here is a complete list of Seth’s previous books.

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James McQuivey of Forrester Research

On the Monday after the weekend when Amazon and Macmillan faced off in a dramatic battle over eBook pricing, I turned to James McQuivey, a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, for his perspective on who won, what the stakes are, and what might lie ahead.

James says his contacts at other publishers are disappointed that this turned into a mud fight, but he suggests there will be benefits from having the issue finally out in the open.  He also shares his thoughts on how Apple’s new iPad figures in to all this.

I’ll have the second half of this interview on The Kindle Chronicles episode 81, which will be uploaded as usual on Friday, February 5.  In that portion, James will discuss what he and his teammates at Forrester are calling “The Kindle Flame,” by which they mean the next generation of Kindle that might, if it gets certain things right, set the eBook market fully ablaze as opposed to merely kindled.

Click here to download this episode.