Long story short: Steven Leckart resigned as editor of Cool Tools to join the Boing Boing Gadgets team, prompting Kevin Kelly, Cool Tools' founding editor, to initiate a planet-wide search for a replacement. Bruce Sterling came first.
Here's Kevin's missive of this morning to Cool Tools subscribers about the changing of the guard.
Not one word has been omitted.
••••••••••••••••••
Over 220 of the most interesting folks from around the world applied as
candidates for the position of curating this collection of cool stuff
we call Cool Tools. The range of skills offered was impressive, and
reassuring. It was a hard decision, but in the end one of those
candidates convinced me that his version of Cool Tools would be a lot
of
fun. Since I couldn't imagine who I'd rather curate Cool Tools than
science fiction author, blog master, and raconteur extraordinarie,
Bruce
Sterling, he gets the assignment.
The deal is the same. Cool Tools only runs positive reviews of stuff
that works. We love tried and true tools, rather than flimsy and
faddish gadgets that only look good on the screen. Most of our reviews
come from you, the reader. To keep the quality high, the reviews sharp
and reliable, Bruce
Sterling will edit the reviews you submit.
Bruce is taking over from the low-key but amazingly professional Steven
Leckart. Steven is now more visible writing over at Boing Boing Gadgets, which
to my mind now has much of the flavor of the early original Boing
Boing. Thanks, Steven. You did a fantastic job! (The "Random Item" was
one of his ideas.) One of these days we should meet. (For two years
we've only communicated by email and phone.)
So to return to your regularly schedule programming, send Bruce a
favorite cool tool. A cool tool...
1) Is not commonly known, or if known, not appreciated for this
particular use.
2) Really works over a long time period.
3) Is significantly better than the competition.
4) Assists individuals (verses institutions) in self-empowerment and
self-learning.
5) Is not one you've invented, sell, or promote.
The ideal Cool Tool review begins: "Over the years I've tried dozens of
tools to accomplish X, but this one is by far the best thing. After
using this tool every day for 2 years, it continues to amaze me. The
problem it solves for non-professionals is this..." and it goes on to
say why this item is so wonderful compared to other choices and why
most of us here at Cool Tool might be interested in at least knowing
about it.
Just so you know.
Do you have a favorite problem solving tool? Send your rave about it to
Bruce Sterling, bruces@well.com.
"These virtually indestructible standard size polycarbonate drumsticks are professional grade, meaning you can hammer out the backbeat on your kit, digital drums or anywhere else you like — with every impact, the entire length illuminates with glowing light (batteries included)."
Bedtime Reader's Nightstand — Perfect for your new Kindle DX
Just the thing for people like me, who oftimes take tons of reading material up to bed, put it down as slumber overtakes, then wake in the morning to find books, magazine, catalogs and newspapers all dusty and jumbled up next to and under the bed.
From the website:
•••••••••••••••••••• Bedtime Reader's Nightstand
This nightstand's six open shelves keep your bedtime reading material
organized and easily accessible.
The nightstand helps reduce clutter
and holds enough newspapers, magazines, and books to sate even the most
voracious bedtime reader.
The shelves are open on two sides, allowing
you to easily stack or remove reading material.
Despite its large
storage capacity, the nightstand requires only 1.5 square feet of floor
space.
Birch veneer with walnut finish.
31"H x 15"W x 15"D.
Weighs 30 lbs.
••••••••••••••••••••
Yes — it will easily accomodate Amazon's new Kindle DX (pictured above and below, next to the Kindle 2) —
to be officially unveiled tomorrow in New York City.
Sheila McNulty's story in yesterday's Financial Times reveals something even most avid Dr. Pepper fans didn't know; the piece follows.
•••••••••••••••••••
Spoonful of sugar is just what the doctor ordered
Out
in the flatlands of Texas, a good two hours' drive from the nearest
city any outsider has ever heard of, lies a town called Dublin. It has
no important industry or institution to draw visitors and the main
occupation of the 4,000 residents is dairy farming.
All the same,
about 65,000 people a year make a pilgrimage to Dublin to tour a small
factory in the centre of town that has been bottling Dr Pepper since
1891. The big draw for fans of the carbonated soft drink is that it is
the only plant in the world that still produces the original recipe.
When
other bottling factories turned to cheaper high-fructose corn syrup in
the 1970s to sweeten their Dr Pepper - with a handful opting for
processed liquid sugar - this family-owned plant refused to phase out
the granulated cane sugar that had been added to the concentrate since
the drink was invented back in 1885 (a year before Coca-Cola was born).
By
bestowing on the drink a particular kind of authenticity to complement
its long heritage, the decision to stick with sugar has turned out to
be a winning marketing strategy and helped Dublin Dr Pepper - as the
plant's Dr Pepper is known - to cultivate an intensely loyal customer
base.
Dr Pepper was first concocted at the Old Corner Drug Store
in Waco, Texas, by Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist educated in
England who felt customers were bored of the fruit flavours at the
store's soda fountain.
The Dublin operation came into being six
years later, when Texas businessman Sam Prim tasted the new fountain
drink while travelling through Waco and decided he wanted to sell it in
his bottling plant. The plant is now run by descendants of Bill
Kloster, the long-time manager of the factory who inherited it from Mr
Prim's daughter in 1991.
The bottling plant buys the concentrate
from what is now called Dr Pepper Snapple group, and rates within the
top 10 per cent in per capita sales for its distribution area. That
area is admittedly small, but that has proved to be another strength -
adding an air of exclusivity.
Dublin Dr Pepper can be marketed
only within 40 miles according to its original franchise contract
because Mr Prim could only go that far in a day to deliver the soda
using his horse and buggy. As a result, obtaining the drink is an
achievement - something that restaurants and retailers boast about on
signs for miles outside the distribution area.
Linda LaMarca,
assistant professor of marketing at nearby Tarleton State University,
says the exclusivity of Dublin Dr Pepper "increases the mystique" and,
therefore, demand for the drink. "It's not an accident," she says.
"Dublin Dr Pepper is run by very smart people."
Betsy Gelb,
professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at the Bauer College of
Business at the University of Houston and a self-confessed Dr Pepper
devotee herself, adds: "Dr Pepper connotes daring to be different,
unconventionality, authenticity . . . Putting sugar in it makes it more
so. What is the most authentic way to sweeten anything? Sugar."
Some
fans make it a personal quest to get to the factory as often as
possible, boosting the plant's total sales to between 500,000 and
700,000 cases a year - with 24 bottles or cans to a case.
Lori
Dodd, the plant's in-house historian, notes there are more than a few
devotees such as Joseph Graham, an attorney who makes the 1,000-mile,
eight-hour, round-trip drive from Brownsville, Texas, twice a year to
get 28 cases - at $16 (£11) a case versus about $13 for the corn syrup
version. Mr Graham brings his own traditional 10oz glass bottles
because nobody makes them any more. "I'm single, don't have to answer
to anybody, so I can indulge my idiosyncrasies," says Mr Graham.
The
scarcity of the traditional bottles also adds to the exclusivity and
authenticity. Customer loyalty is further helped by the pride Texans
take in the fact it was invented in the state. Indeed, when Coke
managed to edge in on Dublin Dr Pepper's territory, winning a contract
several years ago to be the only supplier at nearby Tarleton State
University, it provoked protests on campus. Dublin Dr Pepper was soon
back in vending machines.
Philip Hargrove, 58, makes up to six
trips a year to the Dublin factory - a 240-mile round trip from his
home in Flower Mound, Texas - to refill his 16 cases. "In Texas, you
drink water, whisky and Dr Pepper," he says.
(pictured above and below, next to the Kindle 2) —
