e-book reader wars

[firecat]

First I was waiting for the iPad. It's compelling but heavier than I want in an e-book reader. But after carrying one around for a week I now feel like I'm missing something when I don't have an e-book reader to pull out of my bag when I am waiting for something.*

Then I was getting ready to buy a kobo from Borders because piranha said it was pretty good, and it was only $150, which was cheaper than any other e-book reader I'd seen.

Now Barnes & Noble's nook is $150 and comes with Wi-Fi. On the other hand, its apps look less appealing than the i[Thing] apps.

Speaking of i[Thing]s, the iPhone 4 has a much higher resolution screen. I don't want an iPhone but maybe the higher resolution screen will come to the iPod Touch before too long.


*Come to think of it, a book might serve this purpose.

Comments

[sineala]

I really love my Kindle to teeny bits and pieces; I was unimpressed with the nook when I played with one in store, but I understand there were some issues with early models.

You can play with the Kindles at most Target stores now, I think, in case you wanted to see them both before deciding. The Kindles don't support library ebooks officially -- they, um, unofficially can read them, with a couple of scripts to get the device number off the Kindle -- if that's a consideration. But the Kindle does have Text To Speech, which is fun.

Though, really, they're probably similar enough that you'd be happy with either. E-ink ebook readers are so awesome.

[firecat]

So far I haven't wanted a Kindle because I don't much like Amazon. But if I'm willing to consider a reader associated with another online bookstore, I should probably let go of that prejudice.

[sineala]

You're not actually locked into Amazon; in addition to the usual stuff at Gutenberg and Feedbooks and maybe Google's stuff (the PDFs at least will work) you can buy from anywhere that supports DRM-free .mobi or .prc files. (I think in practice this is Smashwords, smaller publishers like Baen, and maybe Fictionwise.) On the other hand, a lot of the spiffiness comes with buying from Amazon, so I see your point.

[firecat]

Thanks!