Yes, that's right, I decided to join up with the masses of ereader owners in the world. I had been debating on whether I should get one because I am very fond of books, the feel of the pages under my fingers, the smell of a freshly-opened new book, and just the quiet comfort readers get when they have that favorite book in hand. However, with so many authors debuting new titles in ebook format, I thought it best to have access to these new titles along with physical books.
As I see it, the ereader is just a supplement of my personal library, not a replacement. Whatever I cannot store on my shelves either due to lack of room or lack of physical format shall be stored in the digital library. The next question was which ereader should I purchase. That was a bit difficult simply because there were two formats that I was quite fond of: the Kobo of Borders and the Nook of Barnes & Noble.
I had some up-close and personal experience with the Nook thanks to two coworkers who each owned one. Mind you, this is the basic Wireless Nook, but it seemed to suit their purposes, and I thought it would be nice to have the Share feature of loaning out an ebook from my library to a friend for 2 weeks. The software is a lot like our library's ebook software, Overdrive, where it automatically deletes the files after 2 weeks. The biggest downside was the cost, which wasn't too bad when it comes down to it. However, when it comes to bookstores, Barnes & Noble isn't my first choice.
The Kobo seemed like a good choice for me mostly because I am a fairly consistent patron of the stores, despite recent developments for the corporation. Although it lacked the colored menu bar at the bottom of the screen that the Nook had, the Kobo was fairly easy to navigate, and I loved the feel of the 'quilted' backing. It's supposed to give the ereader the feel of holding an actual book, and I have to admit that does keep the Kobo from slipping out of possibly slick or damp hands. I think my decision really came down to shop loyalty (and a little bit of cost) which is why I decided to get a Kobo. Plus, you really can't beat a reader that is an anagram for 'Book'. ^_^
Do you have an ereader and if so, what made you decide on the one you chose?
Got a Sony Reader 505 - partly because it got good reviews, partly because it was available at a decent price and partly because it wasn't tied into any store at all. The software that came with it was pretty horrible but the free Calibre ebook manager suits me wonderfully, and I can highly recommend it... and yes, the latest versions supports the Kobo.
ReplyDeleteI love my Reader... it lets me spend as much time reading while I'm here in Sudan as I do at home, without having to fill my luggage with dead trees :)
Yay, HM! :D I'm glad that you love your Reader and most of all that you're able to have books on hand without all of them weighing you down. If you come across any that look interesting (in EPUB format) let me know!
ReplyDeleteProject Gutenberg is a good source for books in the public domain... apart from that, well, drop a line in my mailbox and thell me what you like, and I'll see what I can rustle up.
ReplyDeleteLove my Nook Color! I'm about to do a post on my blog. I just need to play with it some more- I was ditracted by my paper :P
ReplyDelete@ HM: I love Project Gutenberg, though I need to do a bit more searching on it to find some titles not already included on my Kobo. :) I'll let you know if there's anything in particular I'm looking for, many thanks.
ReplyDelete@ Karen: Well, you've got to have priorities, and a paper that's due soon certainly trumps playing with a new toy like the Nook Color. :D Hopefully, now you'll have some time to play with it.
I went for a Nook for similar reasons. I was running out of shelf space and quickly running out of books I hadn't read yet, meaning I was going to want more. As far as why I chose the Nook, we have more B&N stores in our state than Borders, so I have had more experience with B&N and have a loyalty to it. I actually wrote a post on my own blog about my reader about a week and a half ago.
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