TechBytes: E-Books are all the Rage and Verizon Considers Family Data Plans

May 20, 2011 — -- In today's TechBytes... E-books are taking over. Amazon says it now sells more digital than traditional books. Barnes and Noble is seeing the same trend, although its proportion of e-books isn't as high yet.

Verizon Wireless is considering offering family plans for its data services. It could be part of the pricing changes the company plans to implement this summer.

The latest Thinkpad notebook, the X-1 ultra-portable, went on sale this week. USA Today's Ed Baig says it's a business laptop, but it also has features for other users.

It also has some problems.

"The battery life was a bit subpar, I have to say that would be one of my main critiques. And of course, it stopped working once I inadvertently on purpose spilled water on the computer."

So much for the spill-resistant claim. Other than that, Baig says he liked the device, which starts at $1,400.