geri_chan | nook

Well, I made it through National Blog Posting Month, although I didn't post quite as much new content as I wanted. Technically, I posted every day, but some of those were re-posts of my old Snupin fics. Still, it was fun, and it spurred me to work on some of those manga reviews that I'd been putting off, and I'd like to continue with the reviews on a regular basis.

For my last post, I thought I'd talk about how I've been drooling over Barnes & Noble's new eBook reader, the "nook." I've seen ads for Amazon's Kindle, and I idly thought that it might be kind of nice to have one, but it was a bit pricey and it wasn't something that I just had to have, unlike, say, my blueberry iBook (later replaced by a Powerbook and a MacBook Pro) or my various iPods. (Which obviously aren't life or death necessities, but I'm a big sucker for things new and bright and shiny, especially if it's an Apple product. ^_^)

Anyway, the nook is comparable in price to the Kindle, but for some reason it's caught my fancy in a way that the Kindle didn't. Maybe it's the big, bright color ads that B&N e-mailed to me--the color touch screen looks bright and appealing, and large enough to read without eyestrain. There are some other nice features the nook has that the Kindle doesn't, such as a number of free eBooks that you can download from B&N, the ability to share eBooks with friends, and the ability to transfer eBooks to my Mac. Plus, my bookshelf is overflowing, with books stacked up on the floor, so it would be nice to be able to buy new books without having to find physical storage space for them.

On the other hand, there's something that I find satisfying and kind of comforting about being able to physically hold a book in my hands. And if I drop or lose an $8 or $10 paperback book, it's nowhere near as expensive to replace if I break or lose my nook!

Anyway, I probably won't buy one right away--it's so popular that it's already on back order, for one thing. Plus, it's a new device, so I'd like to wait and see if users report any bugs or glitches first. The B&N stores are supposed to have demonstration units, so maybe I'll go over and check it out, and if I like it, I'll consider buying one later.