I’ve been a big fan of the Garmin brand of GPS units for a long time. I own two personal Garmin GPS units, one for my wife and one for my self. In fact, I believe that dedicated GPS units in general are more useful devices than those integrated into PDAs and my own Apple iPhone. The reason is simple, it’s just less complicated and less things to worry about breaking.

Garmin has been steadily increasing the sizes of their LCD screens, which is a great benefit for those of us who need glasses even to read a 15″ laptop monitor. And, the announcement of the GPSMAP 696 is no exception. It comes with a gorgeous 7 inch portrait screen, which makes it possible to see the whole approach path on one screen.

The other thing that Garmin has been doing very well is making their LCD screens bright enough to be seen even in bright daylight. This is one of the biggest fault of many of the other lesser name brands. I can’t tell you how useful a big, bright display is when you are either driving or flying an airplane. The GPSMAP 696 has the fantastic feature as well.

Garmin has thought of everything when it comes to this handy little aviation device, including softkeys on the display itself with the most commonly used functions, such as page, weather display, flight plan, zoom in and out, and much more. Other portable Garmin devices are true to form also with easy to read and use function keys for local addresses, nearest gas station, etc. They are indeed a pleasure to work with and use.

The GPSMAP 696 does not stop there. There are so many features built into it that will tempt many pilots to leave their charts at home (althought I personally always like to keep a backup). For example, the GPSMAP 696 offers diplays of jetroutes, minimum altitude, rivers, state boundaries and much much more. Again, this is also true of the multitude of features and mapping/topology detail standard in even their basic portable auto GPS units.

The Garmin GPSMAP 696 has so many features that any pilot would welcome such a great unit in such a small footprint. For example, the database includes runways, taxis, hangars, and even ground transportation, restaurants and lodging. Just like its pedestrian / auto GPS units the GPSMAP 696 can be easily updated by purchasing and downloading new maps from Garmin. This will ensure that the information is always fresh and up to date.

Finally, XM satellite radio is providing audio and weather data to this really cool device. The street price for this unit will like come out between $2,700 and $3,200.

I cannot emphasize enough how great Garmin devices really are to use. Commercial, aviation and personal / auto use Garmin GPS units have the great ease of use and bright LCD screens. Garmin is clearly the leader in this space also because they never fail.

And, by the way, you get get $500 toward the purchase of any Garmin unit by clicking here http://everypathnbeyond.com/Garmin.

Once a geek, always a geek? Consider this, though … some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and most powerful people have their roots in technology … Bill Gates (Microsoft) … Jerry Yang (Yahoo) … Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google). Technology has advanced so rapidly in the last few years that there’s virtually no industry left untouched by its reach.

Just today my wife and I were having a heated debate about why anyone would want to read a book on a computer. Or, take it one step further, why would anyone read a book on an eBook reader? I contend that eBook readers are just an extension of the possibilities for reading. Certainly not everyone will drop their hard cover books and switch to an eBook reader. But, just think about what Apple’s iPod has done to the world of listening to music.

Imagine being to able read almost 200,000 books WITHOUT having to go down to your local Borders … or having to wait for Amazon to deliver to your doorsteps your anxiously awaited latest edition of Harry Potter. If you’re like me, you might enjoy reading the NY Times or Wall Street Journal, but want the convenience of picking and choosing what you read, when you want to read it. This has been the promise of eBook readers for a long time.

Now, Oprah Winfrey has added her support and endorsed Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader. She has proclaimed it as her favorite new gadget. Oprah claims that it is a “life-changing gadget” and the “wave of the future.”

There have been many attempts by some very smart entrepreneurs to get people to read books on their devices. For example, PDAs have long been thought of as THE eBook reader. However, it has so many features and applications, that it quickly becomes almost overwhelming for some people who just want to read a book. Or, what about smart phones, such as the Treo, Apple iPhone or Blackberry? Once again, these devices somehow detract from the simplicity of just “curling up in front of the fireplace and reading a good book.”

I don’t know whether the Amazon Kindle is for me, as I have too many devices as it is. But, I do believe that it has tremendous possibilities to enhance our lives, especially in our educational system. The reason is simple. The whole process of publishing and distributing physical books is extremely expensive. This is one of the reasons why school budgets are so sadly strained. If we can reduce the cost of books / eBooks down to the level of today’s MP3 music, we can truly revolutionize the school budgeting costs.

Back to the debate that my wife and I had about eBooks versus traditional hard cover books. I believe that the next generation (my kids, for example) will have a “built-in” propensity toward eBooks. They have been brought up on cell phones, nintendo DS, WII, etc. They will “shop” for eCards before they go to Hallmark to buy a “physical” card, just like they will download an MP3, rather than buy a CD from the now defunct Tower Records.

This doesn’t make reading a book with Amazon’s Kindle as “right or wrong”, it’s just … different.

By the way, the Amazon Kindle sells at Amazon and EBay for $360. I still think this is a lot of money, But I found a website that is giving away free Amazon Kindles if you take a short poll.

Here is their website address:

http://ezsuggestions.com/amazonkindle.

Some people say that variety is the spice of life. This is very true. It is also true for music. In addition, if you have an Apple iPhone, there is no better way to have your music on the go. Think iPod with the ability to make phone calls, text, surf the web, and more. It does not matter where you are heading off to; everyone wants music in there life. Taking it with you is definitely the way to go. Having your music with you is almost a requirement these days. Once upon a time you would need to schlep around a CD player with you. Remember the Sony Walkman? Now, with the iPhone, your music is always close at hand. Today you can have iPhone music on the go.

The portable CD player is now a thing of the past. Digital music is available as MP3’s. These files are easily carried with you be it in a MP3 player or an iPhone. As an Apple iPhone owner, you can bring all of your favorite music with you, and it is right there at your fingertips. Those of you who have the Apple iPhone do not have to fret about having to bring along a separate MP3 player to listen to your music. All of the tunes you love to listen to are right there on their cell phone. The music is available to play whenever and where ever you are ready to listen to it. When it’s time to rock out, you are ready to roll.

The Apple iPhone makes retrieving your favorite tunes a snap. Just a touch of a finger and you can quickly browse through all of your music. You can sort and retrieve it by play lists, albums, artists, or songs. How you organize it is up to you. What if you cannot think of the album name? If you remember what the album looks like you can use program such as Cover Flow to make it easy for you to locate your favorite albums based on the graphics presented on the album cover. It’s more than just music on the go with the Apple iPhone, it’s an entire music library.

Do you like karaoke? If you love to sing a long with your favorite song but the words elude you, no worries, as long as you downloaded the music from iTunes, you can have the words appear right there on the screen. It’s not a phone, it’s a personal karaoke machine, compliments of your iPhone. It really doesn’t get any better than this.

Wait a minute, you don’t have an iPhone? Where can you get one? Go to any AT&T store, they will have them. On the other hand, you can get them online. These phones may be smart, but they are quite expensive. Be sure to check for bargains no matter where you shop. In addition, take the time to get insurance on them. If they break you want AT&T to foot the bill, not you. If you are not an AT&T customer, see if they will give you a good deal on an iPhone if you switch over to their service. The cell phone business is extremely competitive, so be sure to bargain and haggle with them. You will be surprised at what might happen. If you want your music on the go with the Apple iPhone, then you are going to need and iPhone to be on the go with. Buy one, enjoy it and listen to all the music you can possibly fit onto a single phone.