Remain Relevant in Changing Times

Books on a cell phone: giving novels the finger - and thumbs!

I can't even imagine reading an entire novel on a cell phone screen, let alone write one. And yet, that's exactly what's happening in Japan, according to today's Wall Street Journal story, "In Japan, Novelists Find a New Medium." (subscription required)

It seems that the fiction market is enjoying a comeback of sorts, thanks to the ease with which novels can now be delivered right to the palm of your hand. Novelists are banging out their stories one key at a time, mostly using their thumbs. One featured novelist has already written eight books and has a loyal following that apparently appreciates her willingness to suffer through sore pinkies and broken blood vessels on their behalf.

Not surprisingly, readers are primarily teenage girls whose love for this entertainment-on-the-go is also influencing what books go to print ("Love Sky" sold more than 1.3 million hard copies!) and even to movie format.  In fact, one of the reasons the books are so popular is because they tap into the way young people often think - in movie scenes. That makes both writing them and reading them even easier for all involved.

And talk about getting instant feedback! Since the stories are usually written in chunks and delivered in almost-real-time, writers can get feedback that offers encouragement, or even suggest changes to the storyline. In other words, the novels themselves become more relevant even as they are being written. Novelists can choose to weave in a national event happening on the very day they're writing, for example. I love the idea of the interactivity, but can't say I much cotton to the notion of reading more than 100 characters or so on a tiny cell screen.

It'll be interesting to see if this genre takes off in America. As one who still likes to pick up a paper off the driveway and actually turn the pages while I read, I can't imagine ever reading anything longer than a quick text message from one of my daughers on my cell phone. Besides, these Boomer eyes would need a screen the size of checkbook to be able to hang in there long enough to finish a novel.

I feel sorry for people who read this way. They're not getting to enjoy the smell of the paper, the great sound a cracked spine makes or the joy of finding a long-lost, much-needed receipt stuck between the pages as a bookmark.

Viewing relevance from a hospital bed

Relevance, I've learned, looks pretty different from a hospital bed. I'm lying in one now in room 619 at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, GA, where I've spent the past four days being tested up the wazoo. I came in through the emergency room on Sunday, which is my preferred method (you get serviced faster that way and who doesn't like a little drama?).

A number of issues had me here, the most serious being the rapid increase of my creatine, which measures kidney function. My transplanted kidney was starting to poop out on me.

I certainly couldn't afford a lose a second transplant. I've run out of sisters. Lucky for me, Dr. Robert Jansen from Georgia Kidney Associates, has been on the case. First the good news... I'll be fine.

Meanwhile, I've noticed some interesting changes since my last extended visit here five years ago. The lovely hospital gown I was offered first thing wasn't the solid institutional blue of years past. Instead, it has "Hospital Property" stamped all over it. Is this to ensure I don't get it confused with my personal identical gown brought from home? Or is it a reminder of who's really the boss here? For the record, I never thought it was me. I've always assumed it was the insurance company.

For instance, yesterday I was taken to a mysterious cavernous part of the building for a colonoscopy and endoscopy (and from the way I felt later, apparently another oscopy they failed to mention). The doctor asked me if I wanted to be put to sleep for the procedure. I told him anyone who was getting ready to put a tube up my butt better have drugs or some very strong chardonnay. Then I probed (before he did), "Why would you ask?" He said, "Because it will cost your insurance company more if I do it that way. Some people prefer to just put up with the temporary discomfort."

Not this somebody. I didn't care what the insurance company thought about any of this. But it was a real "ah ha" moment for me. Insurance companies, for better or worse, are becoming more and more relevant to our everyday lives, requiring decisions that previously didn't even merit consideration.

Another thing that has struck me is how technology drives so much of the healthcare system now. Everything here beeps, rings or hums. Every person, from the surgeons to the cleaning crew, have cell phones attached as closely as vital organs and they ring constantly (the phones, not the organs). Information flies around wirelessly and yet, as far as I can tell, most of these systems don't talk to one another very well. I still had to answer the same questions 10 times. Maybe they're really just trying to determine my memory skills.

There are several channels on the internal TV system showing educational shows about various medical procedures. That's fine, but what would be even better - and more relevant - would be if I could go to the web site and just download these episodes into my iPod.  Few things are more comforting than having an articulate doctor right there in the palm of your hand gently explain something (on demand, no less).

And while they're at it, a few links to blogs and web sites about specific procedures would be good too. Right now, WellStar (Kennestone's parent) has some great information on its web site that's strictly text based, but they need to take things up a notch.

Hey, we impatient patients are sitting here with laptops picking up the wifi connection. Why not send us to pre-selected links? It might keep us busy enough to lay off the "call nurse" button for a while.

Plane and simple: Apple scores again with iPods in the air

Anyone looking to learn a lesson in how to remain relevant needn't go any further than this week's announcement by Apple that it struck a deal to have iPod jacks installed on planes at six different airlines.

According to the Wall Street Journal on November 15, Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United have agreed to offer passengers a way to connect their iPods to their seats so they can use them in flight or at least charge them while soaring thousands of feet in the air. What's more, video iPod owners will be able to view their videos on the screens embedded into the back of the seats. I guess this is Apple's way of saying "Take THAT!" to Microsoft's new Zune, which also launched this week.

What an ingenious plan to find yet another way to make the iPod relevant to people who love it most: those who travel. I just can't wait to experience this new arrangement when it becomes available in mid-2007. Do you suppose customizing my seat even further will make me forget - or at least forgive - the fact that I'm usually cramped into a space intended for someone or something the size of an average house cat?

Apple's quest to constantly find new ways to make the iPod a part of our lives is working. When I bought my new Lexus last spring, it was the iPod jack I looked for first, not whether it had a CD changer. I'm hooked. I've even come to expect hotels to provide a clock/radio combination that accommodates my iPod. Next, I'll want a waterproof iPod system in my shower. And why not? I can buy shoes and athletic clothes with built-in  pockets for  an iPod. Mind you, I wouldn't do that because it might give someone the impression that  I actually would do something that requires athletic apparel. (I wouldn't dare: all I exercise is caution).

We could all learn from Apple's example. They're not only making the iPod ubiquitous, they're positioning it as a way for other companies to remain relevant. This time next year you may find yourself rocking out in 21D, completely unaware that  you haven't been fed, your luggage is lost and drink prices have gone up. And then the next time you book your airline ticket, you'll  first check to see if the plane has iPod jacks.