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It’s not hard to come up with the right Mothers Day gifts, and there is no shortage of those in the media and representing retail outlets who’ll tell you what you should get. A box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers is the standard fallback, but if your Mom collects all the latest personal tech devices and lives on the Internet, perhaps something more along the lines of personalized jewelry for the geeky mom is in order.

There are all kinds of geeks of course – not just the computer type, though they are the most numerous. A better word for “geek” however might be “aficionado,” which is a Spanish word for “fan.” This opens up the definition to many other interests, including music, art, literature and even sports. Let’s look at a few different options and see what comes up.

Here is an example:the Mom who really likes different type fonts might appreciate a necklace with her name or initials engraved in one of her favorites. Conversely, if a “gag” gift for laugh’s sake is in order, think about something in one of her least favorite fonts (Comic Sans is in real disrepute – and such a gift might wind up getting you a headlock and a noogie). There are always many beautiful and stylish fonts from which to choose, however.

Gadgets are also very popular with the nerd set, and these can easily be incorporated into wearable items these days. The new processors and hard drives are so powerful and so small that it is possible to make watches, pendants, bracelets, and even rings into little flash drives or USB hubs. Maybe it would be a good present to buy your mom a mass storage device built into a charm bracelet or something, only you can fill it (at least a little bit) with things that give it a personal touch. Photographs, songs, even a collection of recipes can go on the drive before you wrap it up.

For the scientifically-minded mom, you might consider a piece of the solar system. A piece of jewelry containing a small piece of a moon rock or a piece of Mars could be just the thing for the Mom who is a fan of astronomy.

Making something yourself is pretty much the pinnacle of gifts as far as moms are concerned. If yours is a music freak, you can craft rings and other small items out of wound up guitar strings. A bass string makes a nice bracelet.

The Internet has plenty of ideas. If you still have her very first computer (which has probably been long retired), perhaps a quirky piece of jewelry made from a microchip taken from that venerable machine could be made into a nice custom piece.

When it comes to the idea personalized jewelry, there are lots of choices to think about. You might want to make your gift even more perfect by associating it with one of her favorite interests.

Anne Harvester is an authority on uniquejewelry and other Mother’s Day gift ideas – regularly published in her articles and blog posts.

Amazon has a very strong link with books and reading, so it’s no big surprise that the Kindle reader has turned out to be such a perfect fit for the Amazon business model. During 2009 e-book readers really went mainstream, and a great deal of the credit for that must go to the Amazon Kindle. Both the Kindle 2 and the larger DX model generated a huge amount of publicity and really helped to bring e-books into the mainstream consumer marketplace.

The Kindle has become Amazon’s top selling product. It has a 60% share of the USA’s e-book reader market – Sony are in second place with approximately a 35% market share. Both Kindle models are now on sale in more than 100 countries around the world. There are a large number of new e-book readers from different manufacturers available on the market just now. Nevertheless, the Amazon Kindle remains the market leader by some way.

It’s a backhanded compliment to Amazon that practically every new reader that shows any potential whatsoever is given the title of the “Kindle Killer”. This simply serves to confirm the fact that the Kindle has become the industry benchmark against which all other readers will be measured. Amazon, in response to increased competition levels, has already dropped the price of the Kindle 2 by $100 since it was launched in February 2009. There has been no adjustment to the price of the Kindle DX thus far. However, the launch of the Apple iPad at the end of March 2010 may mean that Amazon will wish to re-evaluate the pricing policy of the Kindle DX.

In addition to developing the Kindle hardware and increasing the size of the available market, Amazon has also worked to ensure that the choice of Kindle books available continues to increase. Currently there are over 420,000 Kindle books to choose from and this number is being added to at an average rate of 500 new books daily.

In contrast to their competitors, who seem to be concentrating mainly on the development of e-book reader hardware, Amazon and making advances in a number of different areas. They are tweaking prices, releasing firmware updates for the existing Kindle models, growing their potential market and continually expanding the range of Kindle books on offer. In other words, not only are they capitalising on their dominant market position, but they are making the most of the strong association with books and reading.

So far Amazon have pretty much defined the e-book reader market. It will therefore be very interesting to see what features they decide to incorporate in the next version of the Kindle reader. This will give us all a good idea of the way that the e-book reader market is heading in future. There is no agreement amongst industry watchers as to when we can expect the next Kindle to appear. However, remembering the fact that the Kindle 2 is now just over 12 months old, it seems reasonable to assume that we will see a new, updated Kindle in 2010.

Discover the Amazon Kindle for yourself – and have a look at the wide range of Kindle accessories available to let you personalise and protect your reader.

The Amazon Kindle has established itself as the leader of the e-book reader pack. It has a 60% share of the U.S. e-book reader market – Sony’s PRS reader comes second with 35% – and both the Kindle 2.0 and the Kindle DX are now on sale internationally. The fact that almost every new e-book reader which shows the slightest promise is immediately christened the “Kindle Killer” only serves to underline the fact that the Kindle is not only the market leader but the benchmark against which all new readers will be measured.

Given the current dominance of the Kindle, it’s easy to overlook the fact that it is a very recent addition to the e-book reader scene. The eBookman, by Franklin, was launched in 1999 – over a decade ago. Sony’s PRS reader launched in 2006. The original Kindle wasn’t released until November 2007. February 2009 saw the upgraded Kindle 2.0 released and the larger DX followed in June on the same year.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s competitors have been busy. Sony’s Daily Edition reader and the Nook from Barnes and Noble were launched just before Christmas. The new Apple iPad is also perceived as a threat to the Kindle by many industry watchers. There are numerous other e-book readers available now, and many of the newer ones include features which are absent in the current Kindle version – color screen, touch screen control functionality etc.

How will Amazon respond? Thus far, apart from some firmware updates, Amazon’s main response to higher levels of competition has been to cut the price of the Kindle 2.0 by $ 100 to $ 259. However, there are rumors aplenty that the next Kindle version will be released in the first six months of 2010. Which prompts the question – what enhancements will the new Kindle incorporate?

One of the key factors in the success of the Kindle to date is the fact that it provides a great user experience. It’s very easy to use with one hand, the controls are excellent and the e-ink display is easy to read in a wide range of different lighting conditions. In a way, it would be something of a shame if Amazon were to follow the course of Sony’s Daily Edition reader by introducing touch screen functionality. If your main intent is simply to read books then this may not be regarded as a huge advance. If anything, one handed operation will become more difficult and, because touch screens have a more reflective surface, it may be harder to read in certain lighting conditions.

A color display would definitely be good – but not if it were done in the same way that Barnes and Noble included it in the Nook – which features color in the navigation menu only with the main reader display still being monochrome. In fact, a monochrome display is not a huge disadvantage for most readers – after all, 90% of the books we read consist of black text printed on white paper.

What Amazon may decide to do, and what they have done better than all of their competitors to date, is to provide a superior user experience. Instead of concentrating on gimmicky hardware enhancements, Amazon may decide to introduce options which will be genuinely useful for their customers. Faster page turns with less screen flicker and prolonged battery life may be enhancements which users would find desirable. Similarly, greater choice of e-books, quicker downloads and the potential to share Kindle books may be more important to some users than major hardware mods.

Amazon has assumed the position of market leader due to their ability to meet customer needs. Unsurprisingly they understand what people who read books actually want. As a result, the Kindle is now their number one selling product and, so far, they have not just led the market but pretty well defined it. The next iteration of the Kindle will show exactly which way the market will develop in future. On the balance of probabilities, it seems likely that Amazon will continue to lead the e-book reader market, not follow.

Have a look at the Amazon Kindle reader – and the wide range Kindle accessories available to help you customise and enhance it.