I've been debating for over a year whether or not to buy an e-book reader. There were a number of factors making the decision difficult:
- The price of early devices was too high to be cost-justifiable.
- The variety of e-book formats was bewildering. I wanted to wait until two or three formats came to dominate the market, and most were available on a single device.
- I didn't want to support a closed-architecture device like Amazon's Kindle, which uses a proprietary format, and won't even let users change the battery! I wanted something more accessible, that followed open-source standards.
- I wanted to see more features in e-readers, like wireless access to the Internet as well as to any proprietary book-buying network.
Today I finally took the plunge. I've bought the Nook from Barnes and Noble.
I decided on the Nook because it appears to be the best open-source solution for my needs right now. Reviews suggest it's as good as the Kindle, its main competitor, and has a few significant advantages: it's user-swappable battery is a Good Thing, you can add up to 16GB of storage, it uses Google's Android operating system (which means it'll have access to most all the apps in the Google Store, making it potentially a very versatile device), it can serve as a music player while you're reading, and so on. Also, right now, there's a promotion on that gives you a $50 gift card if you buy the Nook for $259. That reduces its price to the $200-odd that I'd determined would represent 'value for money' to me - and I'll be using the gift card to buy books to load on it, anyway!
I've got it charging up right now, and I'll begin the installation process tomorrow. I'll post regular articles so that those of you who've been considering such a device can learn from my experience (and problems) and decide whether you want to buy one just now, or wait for the next generation.
Watch this space for more information . . .
Peter
Good deal Peter, also, you can download free books into your my docs folder on it from other sites... e.g. baen.com if you're into sci-fi. Also, with a Nook, you can also lend a book you buy to another user.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they'll replace paper books, but I'd be curious to try one just the same. Once they can do graphics then they'll be a very handy thing for storing technical publications and the like.
ReplyDeleteJim
I am several months into Nook ownership, and bought for exactly the reasons you did. There was also the incident where Amazon 'took back' an E-book they had sold people, without permission from the owners.
ReplyDeleteMy E-book reader will not replace the hundreds of books on my shelves, but it certainly has a place. In fact, it's usually by my chair when it's not in the car with me. At this point I have about 500 books for it, and I am enjoying it tremendously.
I've been considering buying one of these, and didn't even know where to start on the research to decide which one. Glad you are doing it for me! I'll be following along at home to see how your device does the next couple of months.
ReplyDeleteThere's been a running thread about e-readers on the 1911TechTalk mail list. The favorite there appears to be settling on the Libre reader by Borders. Prices are running around $120 and the reader, reportedly, is also available via K-Mart.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching the readers but haven't decided on one yet. I have a large number of books in HTML and few, if any, support that format.
So, I'm still looking.
I've been an ebook fan since the first "Peanut Reader" came out for the Palm. It strikes me as the killer app for the PDA platform. A book anytime you have down time - when a meeting is late getting started, waiting in any kind of office - you name it. It was the first app I transferred when I got an iPhone.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with the format is the proprietary aspect. There are just too many publishers who don't want to release ebook versions. Several platforms (Kindle, Nook, Libre, pda-phone readers) implies problems with getting the book you want in the reader you want.
Let us know how it works out for you.
Primary reason for me to get an e-book is to read stuff I have in electronic formats already--PDFs, RTFs, etc. Some of these are technical, and more important than graphics(which I think they can do pretty well) is size of the screen, and the reformatting to show certain documents properly.
ReplyDeleteIn the photo - your nails look marvelous!
ReplyDeleteHi Peter! Just wondering how things are going with your Nook?? I've been checking out B&N's videos about it, and I'm pretty impressed. I won't touch a Kindle with a ten-foot-pole because of Amazon's policies, but I'm definitely considering the Nook now.
ReplyDeleteI was just wondering how this was working out for you, and why you decided to get the Nook over the Sony version. I'm considering getting a Nook for my husband for Christmas and would love to hear a follow up from you about this! Also, you seem like the kind of guy who might know if there are plenty of historic eBooks available on this platform. I have a concern that my husbands favorite genre might be under-represented.
ReplyDelete