I’m quite excited to see all of the advances in ebook technology being shown off at CES this week, especially since they stand to move us a lot further down the path of a paperless society. Personally, I wouldn’t mind never using paper again. I get bummed evry time I shop and am handed a receipt.

While I think Amazon has done an admirable job coming at the problem of digital reading from the purpose-built device side of the equation, it’s clear that current Kindle displays are inadequate for certain types of reading – comic books, textbooks, interactive content, magazines, etc. This is precisely who the new blio reader software backed by famous futurist Ray Kurzweil looks so promising. It comes at the problem from the side of massively available computers and because of that, I think it could really take off. Check out this demo of the software running on Windows.

The following concept video from Bonnier Research and Development is also exciting as it specifically lays out some very solid concepts for taking magazines digital. Watching videos like the ones in this post lead me to believe that we will be reading our periodical content much differently within the next 1-2 years.

Content providers, please adopt these so that we don’t have to use the horribly inefficient postal service to deliver dead trees end up being tossed into a recycle pile.

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

And finally, I can already hear some of the complaints from you cantankerous buggers about backlit screens and how it increases eye strain. On the one hand, I agree with you; I own a Kindle and I read on it whenever the format is suitable to that device. I also read A TON on my computers: RSS feeds, news sites, magazine articles, Wikipedia, etc. I just find the current crop of e-ink devices to not be entirely satisfying for these types of reading. Even this, however, appears about ready to change. Check out this demo of a new color reader technology, called Mirasol, coming to the market from Qualcomm.

Compelling several videos, aren’t they?

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer dove into the discussion about how reading and publishing is changing as a result of big box retailers with their pricing wars and as the web and digital devices begin to circumvent the old publishing industry. It’s a thoughtful 11:30 minute take on the state of the book world and it’s well worth viewing. Both of the guests, Kassia Krozer (founder and editor of Booksquare.com – a blog focused on the Digital Publishing Industry that you should really follow) and Lev Grossman from Time Magazine do a good job exploring the topsy-turvy digital world we’re all now navigating.

If you’d rather just get the content in printed form, here is the transcript.

Here’s a trend I think Amazon should push – hotels offering Kindles loaded with classic books to their guests during their stay.

I stayed at a hotel last year that offered Sealy Posturepedic mattresses, you know the ones with “your sleep number.” While I didn’t rush out to purchase one after the experience, I thought it was a really great way to try one out. I mean, you can’t really go to a mattress shop and ask to try out a mattress for a night’s sleep, can you?

Similarly, if staying at the Algonquin Hotel gets people to try out Kindles for free and to see for themselves the wealth of literature available (much of it free via sites like Feedbooks then I’d consider that a great boon.

Disclosure: I love my Kindle and am currently reading “War and Peace” for free from Feedbooks.

[found via TeleRead]

Well, not a huge shocker but it appears that Oprah’s “favoritest ever” and “life-changing” gadget being teased on Amazon’s homepage and on the Oprah site is indeed (drumroll please) the Kindle.

I believe I’ve endorsed this product on this site here as well but I’m not quite as powerful or well-followed as Oprah, so… now that she’s endorsed it, step right up and buy one!

Use the code: OPRAHWINFREY to get $50 off the purchase price through November 1st!

P.S. While the Financial Times and GigaOm are still showing speculation as to whether the Kindle will be the featured device, I scooped it by watching Oprah’s site and finding the feature page. I apparently have no life.