- I’ve mentioned Pixel Qi technology many, many times on this blog. I still don’t know when we will see a commercial product using the technology, but according to Engadget the Pixel Qi 10.1-inch display can be purchased as a kit and placed in your netbook if you’re up to the challenge. Cool, I love weekend projects. Update: The first batch of Pixel Qi kits is sold out. Bummer.

- In a press release on July 1, HP announced that they have completed their acquisition of Palm. This is very exciting news as it means the WebOS isn’t quite dead yet. And here’s the best part, “Palm will be responsible for webOS software development and webOS based hardware products, from a robust smartphone roadmap to future slate PCs and netbooks.” Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to develop a slate PC using the WebOS.

- TUAW: “Oklahoma State University is the latest school to start setting students up with iPads. Starting this fall, a pilot program will give iPads to 125 students, and the university will monitor both how the device affects their learning and what their textbook costs turn out to be.” – It was bound to happen sooner or later. I wonder if any pharmacy schools will start “recommending” that their students purchase an iPad. It happened with the iPhone/iPod Touch. I suppose I can see the logic with a decision like this as the iPad really does make a nice device for carrying around thousands of pages of text in a compact package. In addition, it is well suited for video learning as well as entertainment, which we all know college students need. You can find more information on the pilot program here.

- From the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association “The results of our study [looking at scope, completeness, and accuracy of information found on osteosarcoma in Wikipedia] demonstrate that the quality of osteosarcoma-related information found in the English Wikipedia is good but inferior to the patient information provided by the NCI. Therefore, non-peer-reviewed commonly used websites offering health information, such as Wikipedia, should include links to more definitive sources, such as those maintained by the NCI and professional international organizations on healthcare treatments.” – I’ve said it before many times, Wikipedia is not a good resource for healthcare information.

- According to EMR Daily News financial incentives provided by the stimulus package should help boost the use of handheld computers in the healthcare industry. This makes sense as everyone is trying to figure out a way to go paperless. The only real way to do that is to go mobile , and that’s where smartphones, tablet PCs and devices like the iPad come in. The information at EMR Daily News is from a report at Kalorama Information called “Handhelds in Healthcare: The World Market for PDAs, Tablet PCs, Handheld Monitors & Scanners.” If you want to read the entire report it can be yours for the low, low price of $3995. Anyone just happen to have an extra copy lying around? No. Didn’t think so.

- Amazon has a new version of the Kindle DX . It’s available for pre-order now and should ship sometime around July 7. The new DX looks pretty snazzy. I’ve always liked the Kindle DX because it has a large screen, free 3G for downloading books, is easy on the eyes and only needs to be charged about once a week. I’m considering it.

- At least one person believes the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad can exist in harmony. According to Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com “It’s really a different product category”. I would agree.

- “Shouldn’t we have have a single set of evidence-based rules that everyone in the country can use?” – John D. Halamka, MD, Life As A Healthcare CIO blog. Halamka is speaking specifically about rules designed for clinical decision support (CDS) systems. The simple answer is yes, we should have a single set of rules that everyone can use. According to the post, Anvita Health is working on a solution. ASHP has a similar initiative in one of their Pharmacy Informatics Section Advisory Groups (SAG). CDS systems are important pieces of technology that are often overlooked in the overall scheme of things.

- Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) is taking a beating lately. Healthcare IT News is reporting that a 2010 report from KLAS “finds that only 14 percent of all U.S. hospitals have achieved the expected 10 percent CPOE level required for stage 1 of meaningful use.” And John Poikonen over at RxInformatics posted on a report from The Leapfrog Group that “The simulations found that the hospitals’ CPOE systems on average failed to detect half of the routine medication orders and one-third of potentially fatal orders.” Look, it’s pretty simple. Build a crappy system and you’ll get crappy results. Build a great system and you’ll get great results. So, don’t build crappy system.

- If you want to know what’s going on with Android based devices be sure to check out Android Central. The site has lots of good information, including a podcast.

- Here’s neat video: The Apple Museum – 30 years in 2 minutes. The laptop development is particularly interesting.

- “It’s fun to watch the Android crowd talk about how stupid the iPhone crowd is, it really is. But, the iPhone is still the better consumer device.” Opinion from my brother, Robert, a true Apple fanboy. If you want to see what the average Apple fanboy mentality is watch this video on YouTube. Caution, the language in the video is pretty bad and there are lots of “f-bombs”.

- Speaking of the EVO vs. iPhone 4 video, it looks like the kid that made it might lose his job over the whole thing. Apparently the kid works at Best Buy and they didn’t like what he had to say. I’ve watched the video several times and can’t find a single reference to Best Buy. That just doesn’t seem right. Boo to you Best Buy.

- The official YouTube blog has a great article on Flash and the HTML5 video tag. It’s a very interesting read.

- CrunchGear has a basic review of the Viliv N5 Ultra Mini Mobile PC. This a great looking little device. Many people think I’m crazy, but the mini-clamshell design is something that’s needed. It fills a niche that the HP Jornada 720 series and the NEC MobilePro 900 series had cornered many years ago. Nothing beats a keyboard for text input.

- I don’t often use this blog to express my personal thoughts, but I think it is necessary today. So please feel free to skip this paragraph if you’re here for my normal rhetoric. On a serious note, my grandpa passed away this week after a short battle with cancer. He would have been 83 years old today, July 2, and he will be missed more than you can imagine. He was my father figure for the most impressionable years of my life as I was raised by him and my grandma due to some unfortunate circumstances. He taught me to love God, family and country and everything else would take care of itself. These lessons weren’t given in word, but in action and I try to live by them every day as he did. He always gave of himself, even at the end. His life should be celebrated as he touched more lives than one could have thought possible and had a positive impact on everyone that ever had the pleasure of meeting the man. We could all learn something from him. He was a tough man, but not hard. A heavy equipment mechanic and welder his entire life, he continued to work until just a few weeks prior to his death. You just can’t keep a good man down, which he demonstrated over and over again throughout his life. Someone told me last night that I was blessed to have had him as long as I did. I couldn’t agree more.

Have a great 4th of July everyone and be safe. Eat lots off BBQ and ice cream and have fun.

Here’s a peek at what’s been going on:

EMR and HIPPA.com ran a blog entitled Tablets vs. Convertibles vs. Laptops and EMR. The information presented was very enlightening. The most interesting statement in the blog: “there was one feature of the convertible tablets that was used quite often. The swivel screen. Yes, the least technical part of the convertible tablet technology is what they found so useful.” Maybe laptop and netbook manufacturers should give the idea of a swivel screen another look. The concept would be ideal in combination with the new LCD screen from Pixel Qi.

- CrunchGear claims that “the year of tablets will never come – at least not in the next decade.” I humbly disagree as the tablet PC will find its way to freedom. Never count Microsoft out.

- Gottabemobile thinks that tablets are excellent for certain functions, but not the ones that most users want. The author believes that tablets will become “consumption devices for web surfing and playing music, games, video, and the other distractions from life that we all enjoy“. That would be a great design, but I still think the fully functional tablet has a place.

- LIVEdigitally blasts the tablet PC by listing several reasons why they “suck”. Most of the reasons listed don’t make any sense, such as “Tablets suck to carry around” and “Tablets make you tired“. I’m not sure who this guy is, but my 11 year old daughter carries the one I use for “work” around and loves it. I have to tackle her and take it back when I need to use it (figuratively speaking of course). Fortunately, I didn’t have to defend my position on the subject of tablet PCs as Gottabemobile did that for me. Some of my favorite quotes from the Gottabemobile post include, “Tablets suck at handwriting recognition. No, you suck at handwriting” and “Tablets make you tired. No, you tire easily because you’re a wuss.” Take a second to read the entire article; it’ll give you a good laugh.

- ReadWrite posted an article entitled “Tablets are Toys (Not Mainstream Machines)“. While little better than the post at LIVEdigitally, the message is the same; tablet PCs just aren’t going make it. Again, Gottabemobile came to the rescue with a well thought out post that punches holes in the opinions of the ReadWrite author.

This type of banter can only mean one thing, the tablet PC is here to stay for a while. If everyone hated the form factor you wouldn’t see posts like this flying around the net. Hey, even the iPhone has it critics. Building a funeral pyre for the tablet PC, and other similar devices, seems a little premature at this point. A convertible tablet computer makes a suitable replacement for almost any laptop. I, for one, am in the market for a new tablet and hope to use it to replace my aging Dell laptop. I’ll let you know how it goes.

- Dell laptop. My family likes to sleep late, which offers up some quite time for me to aimlessly search the internet, read, watch a movie, etc. Because hotel internet access can be a little finicky at times, I always carry my Verizon 5750 wireless card for my laptop. That way I never have to guess.

- Cell phone. I carry an LG Dare. I realize it’s not an iPhone, but that is a personal choice. Do you hear me Apple, I want the iPhone on the Verizon network. Anyway, I use the phone to connect to the internet, update and read Twitter and facebook (including some cool photos – see image at right) and for navigation. I used my Dare to find restaurants, a shoe store for my daughter, a car wash following a seagull incident and the place we rented our ATVs. It was absolutely invaluable.

- iPod Touch (8 GB) – The iPod Touch is an awesome entertainment center. I listened to music during those quiet times mentioned above, watched movies and played games. My playlist of choice for the trip was Easy Listening (Journey, Wham, Third Day, Queen, etc). This is quite a bit different from the playlist I listen to at work, which includes Metallica, AC/DC, Linkin Park, Audioslave, Alice In Chains, etc. Hey, music goes with the environment and sets the tone. My movie of choice for this trip was one of my favorites, Iron Man. Games on my “Touch” include such classics as Fieldrunners, Stickwars, and iShoot. The iPod Touch is a great device and I drained the battery several times on the trip.

- Canon 30D with 17-85mm f/4.5-5.6 lens. You can’t go on vacation without taking way too many pictures. I love my digital SLR and have several hundred gigabytes of photos to prove it. The bigger lens (EF 70-200mm f/2.8L) remained at home in its case this time. It’s a fantastic lens, but is often more than I need for casual photos. The camera performed well, even after the beating it took in the “dunes” while I photographed my daughters and wife riding ATVs.

That’s it. Besides some shorts and a bag full of T-shirts, that’s all I needed for a week at the beach. As compact as this set of tools is, I hope to whittle it before our next vacation. When Verizon and Apple finally decide to make me happy, I will replace the Dare and the iPod Touch with an iPhone. I also have plans to replace my bulky laptop with a small netbook just as soon as they become available with Pixel Qi’s new LCD screen. I realize I could use the iPhone for everything, but I really enjoy reading on a larger screen. The camera stays, pictures are just too important to skimp on.

One final word of advice, keep the cell phones off the beach. That beach sand is a bugger to get out of the phone. You’re just going to have to trust me on that.

From the Pixel Qi website: “The readability and legibility of our new screens rival the best epaper available today.  What’s new about our screens: fast video rate update (refresh), and fully saturated color at low pricing because we use standard manufacturing materials, processes and factories.  Our screens use 1/2 to 1/4 the power of a regular LCD screen, and when integrated carefully with the device can increase battery life between charges by 5-fold. You can use our screens in laptops outside in bright sunlight.  Look for this dramatic power savings in 2010, in 2009 we are focused on being a run-in change into the existing electronics in netbooks and ebook readers.”

Two other videos worth watching are here and here. There’s also an interesting article in Time that’s worth reading.

My love of e-ink technology is no surprise to anyone that knows me and I must say that this information is very exciting. This new technology provides options that I’ve been craving for a long time, an epaper format on a fully functional machine. One can only imagine the usefulness of a machine with three to four times the battery life of currently available laptops and less eye strain. I for one can’t wait to see this new LCD technology on a commercial scale. Replace the current screen in the MacBook Air with Pixel Qi’s new LCD screen and you might just have the perfect business machine.

I can see additional application for this technology in acute care pharmacy as well. One of our biggest issues with existing tablet PCs is battery life. Our decentralized model puts pharmacists at the patient bedside where they use tablet PCs to access patient information such as current drug regimens, labs, physician notes, etc. The tablets have become a valuable tool for pharmacists, but require frequent charging due to heavy use. Extending the battery life by several hours is a very appealing prospect.

This is certainly a glimpse of the future. Regardless of who adopts this screen technology first, they will be the machine on my wish list. Just tell me where to point my credit card.