Article by Kristin Danieli of Inter-Tech Overload

The growing popularity of Tablet PC’s and the continuous new introduction of different models to the market have E-Reader creators like Barnes and Noble and Amazon concerned about what kinds of sales forecasts they can expect in the coming quarters, and what kind of product life these little gadgets can expect. Luckily enough for E-reader producers, tablet PC’s are not threatening sales for like-text electronic devices as most market analysts might expect.

Electronic reading devices like the Barnes and Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle seem to be beating out their more feature-rich competitors on the simple grounds of easier readability thanks to their basic design. Other analysts believe it’s the price point that have caught a lot of consumers’ attention; listed at considerably less than a tablet, most consumers opt out of having more advanced features in a trade for the convenience of a hand held reading device that delivers the basics of what their looking for.

As E-reader prices continue to fall while affordable monthly subscription plans are on the rise, some market trend watchers are starting to suggest that eventually we could see E-readers put on the market for free; which is to say free after consumers sign up with a set rate and set time period subscription service. Wherever the E-reader trend is going, it does not seem to be in too much danger of being overrun by the tablet frenzy, which is getting considerable attention but the evidence of its existence is little or unsubstantiated at best. In any sense, the electronic reading device market won’t be disappearing anytime soon.

Up until a few years ago, wired network connections were the norm. While wired connections do provide a little more bandwidth, the hassle of laying out cables and maintaining them is becoming a problem for various reasons. Especially in the case of offices, the cost of re-laying and re-installing cables during a relocation of office premises is enormous.

The most cost effective solution is a wireless router. With router prices dropping drastically over the years, it has become practical for even home owners to install a wireless network. The convenience of being able to work from within any part of the house or office is a luxury that all users will appreciate. While there are some limitations to this technology, the problems encountered are with poor signals, which can be fixed easily using a few remedial measures.

The position of the router has to be thought out when installing the device. Try to locate it as centrally as possible to ensure maximum range. The other thing to keep in mind is that obstructions like walls and such are hindrances for signal broadcast. So if you can’t keep it in the center of your house or office, position it in an optimal place where you will get the maximum range.

If the positioning still does not solve your problems of signal reception, you can always set up one or more repeaters. Repeaters boost the existing signal coming from the router. Therefore you can set it up close to a weak area and ensure that “dead spots” are covered.

Finally, you can upgrade your firmware to take advantage of any new features released by the manufacturer. However, while you do this you should make sure that the router is connected to a UPS to avoid any errors caused by power outages.

The first version of the netBook (also known as mini-notebooks) for general computing applications and for accessing web applications first appeared in 2007. These “primitive” models lacked many of the features of today. They had smaller screens and did not even have an optical drive. Nevertheless their potential was immediately recognized by the masses and lapped up. The predecessor of the netBook can be traced back to 1991 when the Psion-3 was released. The key factor that sets this particular model apart is that it included a dial-up modem. Since then, we have had the Toshiba Libretto 20, Casio Cassiopeia, Psion netBook, HP Jornada, OQO Model 01, Sony VAIO X505 and finally, the netBook that has really kicked off the phenomenon in 2007, the Asus Eee PC 701.

The reason for the netBook’s popularity is simple. The reliance that people now have on the internet is great which means that people need to have access or to be plugged in to the World Wide Web wherever they are. With the advent of Wi-Fi and free internet access points popping up everywhere, it became normal for people to purchase laptops and carry them to whatever location they travelled to. Yet the problem of weight was a pressing one and this is where the netBook has won hands down.

The netBook’s primary function is to be a device that provides access to the internet. Although mobile phones and handheld devices like the iPod Touch provide the same function, the netBook with a larger screen, QWERTY keyboard and now with an optical drive is a clear winner for anyone who needs to be in touch with the world without being hampered by the limits of a tiny device.

Once upon a time, the world was outraged by Iran and China filtering and blocking access to content on the internet. Then Australia got into the game which started people scratching their heads, and now with France being the latest entrant into the censorship arena it appears that this is going to be the norm from now on. The initial argument for censorship is blocking child pornography. This is something no one can argue against and is an absolute necessity.

However, once that is in place it is only a few policies away from an Orwellian “1984″ scenario. If you think that this is an excessive statement, consider the policies France expects to implement if the security bill named “LOPPSI2″ is passed.

- State sanctioned computer Trojans
- A new database of citizen data, named Pericles
- Requiring ISPs to censor websites that are blacklisted by the government

Now these are only a few of the policies within the bill but the right to free speech, information and privacy are all being infringed upon here, in one way or another. President Sarkozy sees it as solving the problem at its roots. He maintains the view that if you do not allow access to the offending content then people cannot commit the crime; of course he was referring to child pornography and file sharing.

German and British newspapers have already started citing Orwellian examples. The main worry for now is about the rights of the people of France, but in the long term the worry is that the French bill might set a precedent that would be followed by other European countries.