Let’s pretend I haven’t taken a multi-month hiatus from this blog, okay? We will just act like I have been posting here all along and segue right into today’s topic, the electronic book reader.
I am a reader. I read mostly fiction, anything from Harlequin romances to young adult books to women’s fiction to suspenseful thrillers. Last year, I read about 70 books, and my goal this year is 75. Next year, I hope to read 100. I have written before about how I frequent some of the message board on The Nest, and recently a new board has shown up that really speaks to me…the Gadgets & Technology board.
Anyone who knows me IRL knows that I am a complete technology whore. If I had endless supplies of money, this little house of ours would be filled with gaming systems and big TVs and laptops galore (both notebooks and netbooks). I would get a new cell phone whenever one struck my fancy, and I would have a GPS system in my car. We would have two DVRs, instead of just one, and I would spend all my free time bonding with all this technology.
Something that has been on my wish list for a while has been an electronic reader. I thought the Kindle, from Amazon, was my best bet because I am a frequent Amazon customer, and the specs of their reader really seemed to be what I was looking for. Although I wasn’t sure about putting out all that money (it was about $300 for the Kindle 2 when I started looking at it, although the price has since gone down to $259) just to then turn around and spend $10 a pop on books, I was so intrigued with the idea of carrying around this little tablet-sized machine that would carry all my books for me. I am a book-buyer, not a library-user, and I often buy books in hardcover, so I am spending a lot of money on books anyway. And I like to carry a lot of books with me, in case I have down time. In fact, last time I went on vacation, I brought five books with me in my luggage and bought three more while I was on the trip. Think of the space the Kindle would save! I could bring more shoes with me next time!
However, I don’t often have a spare $259 lying around that has not been designated for some other use. So I put the Kindle to the back of my mind. I kept buying actual books, sometimes three or four at a time. Since the day that the idea of owning an electronic reader came to me, I have probably spent a couple of hundred dollars on books. Maybe I should have just gotten the Kindle in the first place?
And then, on the Gadgets & Technology board the other day, I heard a piece of information that made me swoon. Barnes & Noble has come up with their own electronic reader, known as nook.
Although I am generally bothered by a trademarked proper name that is not capitalized, I decided to give nook a look.
Now, I am a huge fan of Barnes & Noble. They are my go-to bookstore, for a variety of reasons, including their knowledgeable sales people, their great rewards program, their in-store Starbucks counters (Caramel Apple Spice is my autumn BFF!), and their good-sized stock. Therefore, the thought of them coming out with an electronic reader had me pretty excited. And the specs I have seen on the internet? They have excited me even more. I need to bring nook into my life. Looks like it’s time to stop buying new books (I easily have twenty books at home that I haven’t read yet anyway) and socking my book money away to go toward one of these little delights.
Word is that November 30 will bring the nook into the Barnes & Noble stores for people to try out so they can decide if they want one. I am already pretty sure I want one, but I am going to try to hold off and not pre-order it…but I will be there on November 30 to meet nook in person, and I can’t wait!
Rich Girl, Poor Girl 