I may be the gadget whore of Games are Evil, but you may be shocked to hear how long it was before I bought an eReader of any kind.
I’m a voracious reader, and I scoffed at the idea of Amazon’s Kindle when it came out due to my love of physically holding a book and flipping through the pages. Even when Barnes & Noble released their Nook, I still wasn’t interested. I love my ginormous library and how all the books look on shelves. I’m also somewhat of a collector in various aspects, so of course I’m going to want the physical properties of books. Electronic books can’t fill that collector addiction.
Then one day while driving back home with my mother, she asked me which I thought would be better, a Kindle or a Nook. She’s a member of a book club, and she was thinking of getting an eReader so she wouldn’t have to deal with stacks of books she didn’t want to keep. With an eReader, she could just delete them and move on. A light bulb went off in my head. How many times have I bought books on a whim only to hate them later, forcing me to pack them off for library or Half-Priced Books donations? The answer is too many times.
So the research began…
I read the specs on both the Kindle and the Nook, talked to Barnes & Noble reps, talked to friends who had them, and ultimately decided on the Nook. I have to say that out of all the gadgets I have bought, there have been absolutely zero regrets with the Nook. (Side story: I bought it without telling my husband, and he got mad at me because he was going to buy it for me for Mother’s Day. Ah well.)
Now if I see a book that I know nothing about but intrigues me, I buy it for my Nook and if I like it enough, I’ll eventually buy it when the paperback version is released. Buying both the eBook and the paperback is oftentimes cheaper than buying the hardback, so score one for my wallet. My husband is just thrilled that I no longer have stacks of books cluttering up my office, with some stacks that I need to read and others that I need to get rid of. I’m happy for a little of the same reason and for the fact that holding the Nook for long periods of time doesn’t bother my hands nearly as much as holding a big, fat hardback novel (hand injury a few years ago…move along).
I use this thing all the time. I loan books with my Nook friends (one of the reasons why I picked the Nook over the Kindle), I pack it with me on trips, and it pretty much hangs out in my bag when it’s not on my bedside table. This way I can read one of several books wherever I have to wait somewhere, like in doctor’s offices, waiting for Gabe’s school to let out, in the drive through pharmacy, waiting for movies to start in the theater, at red lights, etc.
But as much as I love the Nook and the freedom it has given me, I am really, really, REALLY pissed off at Barnes & Noble right now for announcing their Nookcolor.
I know I don’t need this. I already have a Nook, and it works great. It’s not broken. Its back cover is covered with a bunch of my favorite authors’ signatures. Oh, and I have an iPad. My iPad is in color, and it has the Nook app on it. I can read all of my books in color whenever I’m indoors. There is nothing this Nookcolor can do that my iPad can’t, except be smaller. I also know that I won’t be able to take the Nookcolor outside to read books due to the screen. The paper-like screen is one of the Nook’s and Kindle’s biggest selling points, in that since it’s not backlit, you can read it in any light and it’s not harsh on your eyes. I know the Nookcolor doesn’t offer these things.
But OMG I want it so badly anyway. It’s another gadget, and it’s so pretty at that. I know I need help, and I’ll get it right after I submit my preorder for this gorgeous hunk of technology.
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