Category: Technology

There’s something addictive about Jeopardy!. It lacks the cheesy glitz of Wheel of Fortune and the gimmicky draw-in of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, and yet, I can never help but be amused by the obscure questions – ranging from pop culture to geography – or the gentlemanly, ubiquitous presence of host Alex Trebek. Whatever the intangible quality that attracts viewers, Jeopardy! is generally considered the intellectual paragon of game shows (which is not, admittedly, saying much); with this reputation, the show was the ideal venue for IBM to showcase its latest product development: a supercomputer named Watson.

Jeopardy!’s most famous winners, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, were Watson’s human punching bags opponents. The recent three-night spectacle played out as one would imagine: Watson’s logarithm-enhanced brain triumphed over the more common sense-based knowledge of its human competitors, albeit with the occasional glitch.

More interestingly, IBM logos and propaganda were prominently featured, with commentaries from the engineers who designed Watson accounting for half of the three 30-minute shows. While not exactly market testing, IBM used Jeopardy! to provide a simplified explanation of its innovative product in a way that even I – a near-technophobe who still struggles with the complexity of text-messaging – found understandable. IBM clearly invested a significant amount of time and money on simplifying Watson’s design; on Jeopardy!, the so-called “learning computer” appeared as a human-sized, rectangular avatar and spoke in a (near-comical) simulated voice.

IBM took immediate advantage of the publicity garnered by Watson’s win. According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, the company recently revealed that Watson is intended to assist hospital staff in diagnosing patients with unprecedented efficiency, in addition to speeding up “everything from the checkout lines to search engines.” And after that, who knows? World domination, maybe?

Three heavyweights enter the ring: Kobo, Kindle, Nook. Besides sharing silly – if catchy – monikers, these competitors are also the three foremost e-readers on the market. Each is backed by a big-name bookstore hoping to capitalize on current trends toward easy accessibility and technological advancements.

Let’s meet the contenders:

Kobo (an anagram of ‘book’) is the young up-and-comer, partnered with Borders. Released in July 2010 at a price of $150, Kobo was presented as a cheaper, simpler alternative to more expensive e-readers and tablets. This marketing scheme was ineffective as a sustainable competitive advantage, as competitors quickly responded with lowered prices; however, Kobo succeeded in eliciting substantial consumer interest. Realizing the importance of social media to modern consumers, Kobo recently released the first social e-reader app. The new app enables readers to keep track of their reading stats and interact on Facebook.

Kindle is the e-reader pioneer. Sleek and light-weight, the original $400 version revolutionized the way people think about books. Kindle’s main advantages are its first mover status and connection to Amazon.com, which allows readers to browse consumer-reviewed books and download them straight to their device using Amazon’s 3G “whispernet” technology.

Finally, there’s Nook, the underdog. The original Barnes & Noble Nook boosted in-store support, but received criticism due to the product’s lack of availability and suffered from comparisons to its predecessor: According to PC Magazine, “on the original Nook, page turning took twice as long as page turning on the Kindle.” A slight difference, but significant in the close-fought battle for e-reader supremacy.

It remains to be seen if Kobo will KO the competition with its emphasis on the social aspects of reading, or if Kindle and Nook’s longstanding advocates will ensure their continued domination, but one thing is certain: the Battle of the Books wages on.