I strolled into the Mall of America Barnes & Noble and stopped at the Nook e-reader desk.
A store clerk materialized and I drilled him with questions – is this 3G or wifi? How much memory does it have? How much space? Is it backlit? How does this compare with an iPad? Kindle?
The clerk explained that the Nook was for consuming content – magazines, books, etc. – and that the iPad was more useful for producing content.
“With the Nook, you can go paperless!” he said.
A few minutes later I was at the Microsoft Store. They only have Kindles, which are about $50 cheaper than the Nook. The Kindles are not backlit and do not have page numbers, which is a deal breaker. The Microsoft Store also has tablet PCs, but those are clunky enough to feel like a laptop.
The tablets are also around $1,000, which is a lot for something I don’t really need. The Microsoft Store clerk and I agreed that the tablet PC and e-readers are redundant with my HTC EVO and laptops.
I went back to Barnes & Noble and bought a magazine. I’m not busy enough to give up paper.
2 Comments
Martine
February 9, 2011 at 3:37 pmI prefer my non-backlit Kindle. It’s easy to read outside, and that’s important for me since my summertime ritual involves poolside cocktails and novels.
Jansen
February 9, 2011 at 3:41 pmAh, there’s precious little reading time given my schedule now. Maybe that will make more sense when things calm down in these parts.