A couple years ago (7/07) I wrote:

I think the digital book will be dramatically different from the 1999 eBook.  The hardware will be much more appealing to book worms - possibly with digital pages that actually flip - and the fonts and rendering technology will be wondrous.  The dedicated device will be connected to the net for instant download (via an iTunes-like store, probably provided by Amazon.com and B&N) of new books, magazines, newspapers, and other types of content.

Digital Books and the Trade-in Model

In other words, I had a vision of the Amazon Kindle – and as I typed this up, they were working on it (pretty cool).  I also wrote that I wanted to replace all existing paper books with digital books in the year 2012.  But I’m thinking of moving that up by a few years now that I have about 40 new books on shelves that I didn’t have back in 2007.  Books are starting to overwhelm our living space (just like CDs did for years) and it’s time for me to do something about it short of adding more square footage.  So here’s my plan:

1. Remove all books from my public Amazon wishlist and move them to a private “Want to read” list.  Having received close to 20 books for Christmas this year, I think I need to get serious about this.  I’m walking distance to the Microsoft Library and can get books delivered to my office whenever I want them, so owning books is starting to feel a little silly.  Where it makes sense, I will replace the physical book with the Kindle version once that’s possible.
2. As I read books I already own, I will take searchable notes (in OneNote) where applicable.  Not going to do that for Twilight or Tom Clancy of course, but I’ll definitely be doing it for psychology/business motivation/productivity books where things I want to remember are covered in detail.
3. Once finished, I’ll add those books to another list, “Books I’ve read” just in case I want to refer back to them at some point (or just remind myself that I actually read them).  This will address the packrat need in me.
4. Then, I’ll sell the book.  De-clutter.

If I ever need to refer back to the book for some reason, I’ll either get it delivered from the library, listen to the Audible version, or buy the cheaper Kindle copy.  This assumes two things:

• I get a Kindle.  In order to go digital, I need a great reader.  I’m assuming that the new Kindle on February 9th will be one.  The DRM still bugs me but if over time enough people complain, they’ll have to do what Apple just did with iTunes and let people strip the DRM.
• I can sell books without dealing with selling the books. I have a used book store around the corner from me, but the best value I’ll get from selling books will come from Amazon or another online retailer.  Except I really don’t want to deal with shipping books every day (or posting them to begin with).  So I need to find a cost-effective and efficient way to do this, possibly by hiring a virtual assistant.  Ideas are welcome.

And just for fun, I’m going to learn how to speed read finally so I can get through all of this a little quicker.  Most of the books I read are perfectly “speed readable”.  I’ve found some resources on this but I’ll spend some time over the next couple of days digging up some more.

So just like CDs and paper in our home, in a few years most books (with a few exceptions) will be replaced with digital versions or gone completely once I get the value extracted from them.

[Omar and I are giving a talk on Getting Things Done at Microsoft at TechReady next week.  The funny thing is that one of the benefits we tout of applying a system to your inbox and task list is that you start to systematize everything around you.  This is one odd example of me doing that!]

Russell Beattie sums something up that I’ve been thinking for a while about personal blogging punditry in 2009:

Man, I wish I could just sit down and write like I used to on a daily basis.

It feels *different* though... Keeping a weblog seems to have become a sort of a mid 2000's fad that has passed its peak and starting to fade into obscurity, and maybe even soon ridicule along with bell-bottom jeans and mullets. Even though I love putting my thoughts out there, in the back of my mind it's almost embarrassing to add to the cacophony of opinions that now flow daily from every orifice of the Internet from people who just haven't gotten the message that it's just not cool any more. I mean, hey, let's face it - Social Networking elected the current US president, not blogging.

I can't seem to get into the habit... - RussellBeattie.com

I started blogging back in 2001/2002 on my own domain (with about 5 readers as I didn’t have “Microsoft” attached to my name) and continued to blog (this time as a fitness blogger) once I joined Microsoft.  In December 2004 I “reopened” my personal blog here on Spaces – Torres Talking – and for a few years I was rockin’ it, posting at least 5-8 times monthly with posts that took me time to research, think about, write, and comment on.  For a while I was in the Technorati 100 back when it mattered but given my lack of attention to this site since my daughter was born on Oct 07, I don’t even show up in a Live Search for “Mike Torres” anymore!

Oh well.

I’ve talked about this before, but there are lots of reasons for slowing down in addition to the embarrassment factor Russell calls out above.  For one, I spend 8-12 hours each day writing between email, product specifications, and vision memos… so the last thing I want to do in downtime is write more.  Secondly, time spent training (martial arts/strength training) cuts into already valuable time with my family and it’s frankly just more important to me than blogging.  And of course, downtime during early mornings, nights, and weekends are best spent with my wife and daughter.  The little one changes every single week and if I don’t spend enough time with her during any given week, I can feel her changing without me, and it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.

I think another real factor is that I contribute thoughts in other ways.  Twitter updates, SmugMug photos, Facebook comments, Google Reader shared items, and Windows Live to pull it all together for people… they all give me an outlet that takes seconds instead of hours, and anyone following that stream will immediately know where my head is without reading a bunch of prose.  Some examples of items from my Twitter feed which I would have blogged about back in 2006:

• Omar & I are giving a talk at TechReady next week, "Getting Things Done like a Ninja at Microsoft" - 350+ people projected, yikes!
• Offline Gmail is so NOT interesting, but the Labs concept continues to provide small reasons not to switch away
• Amazon Kindle 2 coming February 9th? Maybe I'll finally ditch books.
• IE should stop *clicking* every time it loads a page; first thing I turn off (but I'm sure most people just deal with it)

Each one could have been a long-winded post like this one, but instead I got the thoughts off my chest and got feedback on them almost immediately.

Now having said all of that, I do still love blogging (and Windows Live Writer) and want to keep this site alive for the foreseeable future – just without the “web 2.0 remorse” of letting it sit here.  So I’ll continue to post long-form posts every month (or three or four) and I’d really like to start talking more about the new Windows Live Movie Maker once we’re ready to talk about it.  I’m thrilled to be working on a project so many people care so much about and is so well timed with market needs.  So I’d like to make sure I can have an ongoing dialogue with folks about it on this blog, on Twitter, and anywhere else I can.  Again, once we’re ready to talk more about it.  But that will hopefully be nice and focused, not the inane ramblings of some random dude.

If you still want the inane ramblings of some random dude, just catch me on Twitter ;)