The iPad, whatever one may think of it based on the short presentation offered by Steve Jobs last week is destined to be a game-changer. Personally, I wasn’t so wowed by it – it seems a bit too wide, and it looks like it would be too easy to scratch – but Apple hasn’t come out with a dog for years (the last one was the Newton, depending on whom you ask), so you can be sure that if they’ve decided to release this now, it’s going to sell like hotcakes. It will be available in the U.S. in a matter of weeks, and, said Jobs, and available internationally by May or June.

The iPad’s charm is that it will combine all personal entertainment into one, easy to use device; instead of various iPods for music and video use, and a Kindle for book-reading, and a laptop or iPhone for surfing the web or playing with apps, you get it all in one super iPad package (I suspect that future editions will sport a cellphone as well, after Apple “milks” whatever it can out of the iPhone). Users of the iPad will have access to movies, books, TV shows, music, and any other downloadable content you can imagine, courtesy of Apple, and whatever deals they work out with the content suppliers.

But once again, Israel will be left behind. Months (years) later, absolutely no progress has been made on working out content deals with the people who hold the music and movie rights in this country; the “sole importers” are clearly holding out for a bigger cut, and are holding their contracts over the heads of the foreign content providers, threatening to sue, sue, and sue some more, if they dare to try and do a digital runaround with books, music, or video. It reminds me of the situation here years ago, when an “upstart” book chain started importing English books from wholesalers in the U.S., selling them at far lower costs than the official importer was selling them for. Some interested party put a stop to that quite quickly, I assure you.

Israel isn’t the only country left out of the i-party; China doesn’t have a true iTunes store, and Amazon isn’t shipping Kindles there. The reason, it appears, is the (quite justified) fear that whatever is sent over to China will be knocked off within minutes, thus destroying any opportunity the companies hope to have to sell legal content there (and you know they are just salivating at the thought of a billion Chinese buying books from the Apple Bookstore). But Israelis, who are not known for knocking things off and are more than happy to pay double for the same stuff others get at regular prices, won’t be able to access any of the i-content any time soon.

Of course, all this can be solved if you are the possessor of a U.S.-issued credit card, with a billing address in the United States. Then, Apple and Amazon trust you with their digital content. Actually, I’m being unfair to Amazon, which will gladly accept your Israeli credit card which allows international use (the various gold or business credit cards) for almost anything they sell, including physical music discs and books. But not for the digital stuff.

And we haven’t even mentioned the issue of the iPad’s 3G connection, which will also not be solved overnight, if the iPhone saga offers any solution – it took quite awhile for Israel’s Apple rep, iDigital, to work out a deal with the Israeli cellphone companies. The company doesn’t expect to get the iPad anytime soon, either – in an email iDigital sent out in the midst of the hoopla of the product announcement, the company said that “Regarding [the iPad's] reaching Israel, it is still too early to determine [when, how and if that will happen]. We are acting in accordance with Apple policy, but we are working with the world [Apple] organization in regards to localization.” As if localization were the only problem!

I know many of the people reading this in Israel do have access to an American credit card, as do the people who live in the U.S. who are reading this online, so it may not seem like such a big deal. But it is – not because of the content itself, which is available at a thousand and one torrent download sites, but because this is a clear example of how legal obfuscation by “old tech” companies is preventing progress of “new tech.” I know that sounds ironic coming from someone who writes for a newspaper – what with the internet cutting into newspaper profits and all – but as we have seen over and over in the past few decades, artificially damming up the flow of progress only makes things worse for the defenders of old technology – and the businesses that think quickly and adjust to the situation are the ones that survive, and thrive (talk radio, which is bigger than rock n’ roll ever was on AM, is a good example).

Now that there’s competition to the Kindle, the Amazon people may be looking to expand their base; the iPad promises to be a formidable foe. Perhaps that will be an incentive for Amazon to lean a little harder on the content suppliers to work out a deal with the local importers. I know Israel is a small market (but there have got to be more English readers in Israel than in Mongolia, where you can buy Amazon books!), but during times of trying competition, companies need all the business they can get – and Israel is a content consumer ripe for the plucking.

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• Is the iPad a big iPod or is it the new Newton? (cloudave.com)
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Why that doesn’t appear to be the case when it comes to the new crop of electronic book readers, then, is a mystery – especially since one of these newly announced products was at least partially developed in Israel! (I’m sworn to secrecy, so don’t ask). But regardless, the rest of the world is on the verge of a revolution in the way it reads books – while we are, at least for the time being, left behind.

And I mean “the rest of the world” literally; Amazon’s new Kindle 2, which goes on sale next week, will be available in over 100 countries all over the world. Not in Israel, though. After the Kindle 2 announcement, American book giant Barnes and Noble announced its own e-book reader, the Nook. Not here, though; you can’t buy a Nook in Israel, either.

It’s not, I’m sure, because they don’t like us; there are plenty of English language readers here in Israel who would be more than happy to plunk down the ten dollars or so Amazon and Barnes and Noble charge for e-book versions of bestsellers available for download. The Nook is a brand new product, and isn’t available outside the U.S. anyway – so we can’t fume over being left out of Barnes and Noble’s e-book party, at least just yet; every non-American is being excluded as well. But the Kindle 2 is another story; If it’s good enough for the residents of Andorra, Belarus and Papua New Guinea, it should be good enough for us, no?

Apparently not, and it’s instructional to take a peek at the Kindle 2 homepage and try to figure out why Mongolians are eligible to buy a Kindle, but Israelis aren’t. The Arab world is out (fear of possible fatwas for immodest content?), as is China (well-founded fears of copyright infringement), and some poor countries in Africa (although many, like Kenya, Madagascar, and even economic basket-case Zimbabwe. are in).

It’s not clear what problem Amazon has with Israel, but I suspect that it has to do with import licensing rights for physical books, and the desire of large importers of print books into Israel for a piece of the e-action (this Hebrew site provides a good summary of the legal issues in Israel regarding “hard” and “electronic” copies of licensed works). It’s similar to the issues surrounding MP3 downloads. vs. physical CDs; the current licensee (or licensed importer) has first crack at making a deal for the same work in electronic form. And judging from the way the Israeli rights issue is being handled at the iTunes store (you can buy an iPhone for hundreds of dollars here, but not a 99 cent song), we’ll probably be waiting awhile for Amazon to iron things out with the publishers and importers.

Proof? Amazon is happy to sell you anything on the site to customers with an Israeli credit card, and although it won’t necessarily ship everything here, it will ship physical books and CDs. But try downloading a free e-book or MP3 at Amazon, much less buying one, and the site will turn all apologetic about how it cannot serve people in your geographical area.

So what are the alternatives? Well, of course there’s that old standby, the book – but you haven’t read this far just to hear that there’s no hope for e-reading here. Actually, there is an e-reader that you can buy, right here in Israel, at http://www.ebookshop.co.il, one of several Israeli sites that sell Hebrew language e-books. The site sells the Foxit eSlick, which lets you read PDF format e-books (note that the Hebrew site charges NIS 1,499, close to $400, for the eSlick, while it’s listed at the Foxit site for $259. Are import duties really that high?).

So, right there you have an e-reader alternative that’s “kosher” for Israelis, and it certainly looks like a nice device. But there is a trade-off; you’ll be investing in a device that is definitely outclassed by the “big boys,” Kindle and Nook, which are state of the art – including wifi connections to download books anywhere, and a touchscreen, also a feature of Sony’s PRS-600 reader. The Sony device is sold independent of content, unlike the Kindle and Nook (ie you are not expected to purchase books directly from the Sony site, although there is a bookstore you can access). The eSlick doesn’t have any of those things – you connect the device to your computer and manually upload books.

As mentioned, the problem for Amazon and B&N is connected to content downloads. The Kindle is more or less tied to the proprietary format e-books you get from Amazon, so there’s little point in their selling a device you can’t buy books on yet. The Nook is a little more loose, in that it allows you to read books in a variety of formats (more on that below), but B&N is of course interested in selling its content, so again there’s little point in selling an e-reader we can’t buy books for.

Another drawback for the Foxit device is that it only handles PDFs. There are many e-books available in PDF format, but there are just as many, if not more, in ePub (aka open e-book) format, the format read by many e-book computer readers, and used on a host of devices, including the Nook and iPhone (but not the Kindle). Most commercial bestsellers will be available in multiple formats (ie PDF and ePub), but some more esoteric works may not be, so if your device doesn’t handle both, you’re missing out. A battle royale may be shaping up between Amazon and the rest of the e-book world; Amazon sells its e-books in its own proprietary azw format, while B&N, Adobe, Sony, and most everyone else has committed to ePub and other open formats. Amazon, of course, doesn’t have to worry about anyone else, but not all the players (like Google?) have weighed in on the format issue yet.

If you’ve got a cellphone with a decent sized screen, I would suggest using that as an e-book reader for now, until one of the more advanced devices “makes aliyah.” Granted, a cellphone screen is not an e-book reader, but some of the newer phones have screens big enough to make reading less of a hassle. There are ePub readers for nearly all smart phone platforms (except Symbian – sorry, Nokia fans), but I’d suggest sticking with Adobe PDF Reader LE (mobile) edition, which, if your phone doesn’t have it already, will cost you $15, far less than a dedicated PDF e-book reader. What about content? Besides the hundreds of free places to download PDFs from (they’re all over the place), I found a site that has thousands of best-sellers in e-book format (PDF, ePub, and others) that doesn’t seem to have a problem – but don’t tell a certain book importer that you did!

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• Amazon’s Kindle to launch in UK (news.bbc.co.uk)

Yes they do, but few seem to bother pulling out the camcorder unless it’s a really special occasion. As small and convenient to use as video cameras are nowadays, it seems that they’re still too big and inconvenient for casual, everyday use – and are reserved only for “special” pre-planned occasions. As if baby’s first word (which is anything but preplanned) isn’t special enough!

I bet I’m pretty typical in that I don’t even bother using my camcorder anymore – for anything. Instead, I just pull out m digital camera, which besides shooting still photos, can also do video. In fact, a camera’s video capabilities has become, for me, one of the key features I look for nowadays. Recently I got a Kodak EasyShare Z712, which takes nice video – and in fact I use it as much for video as for still photography. Now, this camera is by no means one of those mini devices that fit into a pocket; it’s more reminiscent of a full size SLR, and it’s only slightly smaller than the Samsung camcorder that we have lying around somewhere (I use it so rarely I’ve lost track of where I put it!).

So it’s not just about size – it’s about convenience, too. But what about quality? Aren’t camcorders better than digital cameras for taking video? Yes they are, but for most everyday home shooting, the extra quality available with the camcorder gets trumped by the convenience of the digital camera. The buttons on the digital camera are easier to use, and the wheel selection for type of picture is pretty intuitive (although I think there are too many selections, as I usually stick to that standard settings anyway). Even in the case of the slightly smaller digital camera, the form factor makes a difference. And, I found, the ability of the camcorder to take photos wasn’t enough to make me want to use it exclusively. And, the Kodak takes far better photos and video than I could get with my cellphone, another option for taking video on the fly, and is a lot easier to snap pictures or video with.

Speaking for myself, then, convenience – the ease of use, and the size, is what I base a decision on which device to take with me on a family outing. But now there’s a third choice – not quite a camcorder, but no digital still photos. It’s called the Flip and it’s taken America by storm. It’s the top selling single video camera in the U.S. today – having taken 13% of the market – and selling like hotcakes. And, it’s only $129 at Amazon.

The original Flip runs on 2 AA batteries, is about 4 inches high, and weighs about 3 ounces (smaller than many cellphones!). Last week, the company announced a newer, even smaller version called the Flip Mineo. that uses rechargeable batteries. It’s not available in Israel yet – indeed, most Israelis haven’t even heard of it – but come September, after vacation season, you”ll for sure be seeing lots of them at your kids’ next school play.

So what’s behind the charm of the Flip? For one thing, Oprah, as in Winfrey, America’s talk show goddess. Oprah introduced the Flip to America last year on her daily syndicated TV show (http://tinyurl.com/29keok) and – well, flipped over the Flip. Oprah liked the Flip for the same reason I like my digital camera – small, easy to use, and decent quality video.

The most convenient thing about the Flip is the way you transfer video to your computer. All video is recorded and stored on a 2 GB memory card, sufficient for about an hour’s worth of video. To transfer the video to your PC (it works with Macs, too, but some users have had trouble with using the Flip video with iMovie), where you can watch it, transfer it to a DVD (using a program that will convert the video from its native MPEG-4 format), or upload it to Youtube or Myspace directly (a feature provided by the Flip’s included software). You can also connect it to a TV to watch fresh video on the big(ger) screen. The videos themselves are shot in full frame VGA (640 x 480), 30 frames/sec (constant frame-rate), progressive scan. And when you’re done filming, you just slide out the built-in USB connector, insert it into your computer, and copy it to your hard drive.

The reports on the Flip’s video quality have been mixed, although most buyers realize they are not going to get the same quality as they would with a thousand dollar camcorders. Many users say the Flip performs well in low light situations, but not in heavy zoom situations (its zoom is only 2X, anyway). For most people, according to dozens of review web sites, the simplicity (there are four buttons to choose from, and that’s it) and the convenience (fits into a pocket easily) of the Flip is enough to get them to plunk down their money.

What most of these buyers probably didn’t realize before buying a Flip is that their digital camera most likely has the same capabilities as the new device – if not more capabilities. The specs for my Kodak, for example, also offers ull frame VGA (640 x 480), 30 frames/sec (constant frame-rate), progressive scan – plus QVGA. It can also take up to 80 minutes of video on a 2GB SD/MMC card – but you can flip out the card and put another one in if you want to take more video than the memory card has space for before you unload it onto a computer. Not to mention its – are you ready? – 12X optical and 4.2X advanced digital zoom, with a total zoom range of 50X. And, of course, a 7.1 multipixel still camera thrown into the bargain (on the other hand, the Kodak is $188 at Amazon, as opposed to the cheaper Flip). So is a Flip worth the money? Well, before you buy, you can try and see how easy it is to deal with Flip sized and quality video – by using your digital camera to take video. Maybe you’ll decide you have enough gadgets anyway, and that you can use that $129 for some other hobby – like eating!