I have been tempted many times by that over-expensive sexy slab of technology called the iPhone, so I don’t need Seed adding to the temptation with a list of science apps for the iPhone.

Fortunately, the strongest argument against the iPhone for me right now is that it’s closed and only supports one carrier…who does not offer good service in the wilderness of western Minnesota. If ever they opened the gadget up, though, or if ATT built a cell phone tower in my neighborhood, I’d have to rely on my wife’s ability to slap and shackle me to prevent wasteful spending.^*

^*Which is, obviously, a reason to hope for more flexible service plans even if I never buy one.

Look: you can buy me on Amazon now, for 99¢ cheap. It’s all through this strange new device Amazon is selling, called a Kindle, which is a fancy new e-book reader with some nice display technology and an absolutely evil business model. Now instead of buying books that you can do with as you please, you can lease them and get digital copies all bound up in DRM hindrances. The hardware is a step forward, the software lock-up of all the content is a big leap backwards, one that is going to doom it all to failure.

Kottke seems unimpressed, Business Week likes it, John Gruber hopes it flops. I’m with the nay-sayers.

Hey, is anyone reading this on a Kindle?

The Seed editors asked us to reminisce about our quaint experiences with computing in the Old Days. Old nerds are so pathetic.

I’m much more enthused about an event in future computing: Leopard is coming out tomorrow! Laelaps has an anticipatory video of what Leopard is going to do to Windows — haul it up a tree and eat it for lunch.

Prepare yourself for the true religious wars: I’m asking for advice on a new laptop.

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