Sunday Salon - e-readers

Another reason I need to stop buying hard-copy books for a while: I just ordered a new Kindle from Amazon. I already own one - the original Kindle, from several years ago - but it is no longer functional. I tried to take it on our recent trip but after charging it just before we left, I found it had already run out of battery power by the time I took it out on the plane. So I didn't use it once, the entire trip. This was incredibly frustrating; whilst I had brought several hard-copy books with me, I was also deeply engrossed in another book on my Kindle, and I couldn't access it except on my phone, and even then I had to wait to access it until we reached a location with wi-fi.

We have an iPad, and we traveled with it. When it was first purchased, it was kinda-sorta 'my' iPad - I was the one who had really pushed for one. I downloaded the Kindle app and thought I was good to go. But that lasted oh, all of five minutes. Bibliohubby's home computer is a clunky old beast that takes a good half hour to churn into action, so unless he is doing something substantial, the iPad has (understandably) become his electronic gadget of choice. I don't begrudge him this, particularly as I have a flashy Macbook Pro which I bought just before little Iggy was born, about two years ago now. But a 13-inch laptop is not a handy bedtime reading companion, especially when much of my reading is done after lights-out, and I am trying to cause minimal disruption to the other occupant(s) in bed. Of course the iPad has also been co-opted by Iggy. Anyone with a child will know that Apple devices are like crack cocaine to children. On our trip we downloaded several episodes of Curious George, Iggy's favourite show, to the iPad, and this is how we lulled him to sleep on flight after flight. Very useful, but again, not terribly conducive to fulfilling my reading needs.

I thought I might purchase either a (functioning) dedicated e-reader or a tablet with e-reader functionality on our trip. Initially what I really wanted was an iPad Mini (confession: I'm a bit of an Apple junkie. I can't walk past an Apple store without wanting to buy a new iPod or a new accessory, even though I have plenty of both). But I was a little concerned that it wouldn't take long before the same fate that befell 'my' iPad would also befall the Mini. So I decided to do some considered research before making a purchase. Here is the list of what I was looking for in my device:

• good e-reader capability (goes without saying);
• a backlight of some kind so that I can read at night without disturbing Bibliohubby, and whilst breastfeeding baby number two when she comes along;
• a backlight that is relatively easy on my eyes and does not disturb my sleep (I know, it's a lot to ask);
• ability to switch from black-on-grey to white-on-black writing, and to alter size of letters, brightness etc;
• good battery power;
• easy charging;
• a touchscreen;
• ability to use Kindle app and / or access Kindle e-books (vital as I already have a Kindle library);
• ideally, the device itself should be pretty, and have colour capability;
• also ideally, I would also be able to access limited non e-reader apps - such as Goodreads, Blogger etc, so that I could do all book-related things on the one device.

Here are the conclusions I came to:

• There are a confusing number of dedicated e-readers on the market today. Even if one decides on a Nook, or a Kobo, or a Kindle, deciding which unit to purchase within the suite of products available under the umbrella each of those brands is in itself confusing. In Canada, I was tempted by the Kobo. The Kobo Glo seemed to have what I was looking for in terms of touchscreen and backlight, but when I caught sight of the Kobo Mini I was seduced by its size (bigger than an iPhone, smaller than your typical e-reader). Of course, the Kobo Mini doesn't have a backlight, so that was that. In the States, I liked the display for the Nook in Barnes & Noble and might have been sold on one, especially as the available covers were gorgeous - vintage New Yorker cartoons, etc. But customer service was awful and then I heard that Barnes & Noble might soon be following Borders to liquidation land (sniff!). And the Nook, too, came in so many sizes and varieties that I couldn't commit to any one of them. 
• Buying a dedicated e-reader, for the most part, restricts you to reading and purchasing e-books from the online bookshop affiliated with that e-reader. That means that I was not going to be able to use a Nook or a Kobo and continue to read my Kindle books, or purchase from Amazon's Kindle store. Some e-readers allow you to download books in other formats onto the e-reader from a computer, but I wanted the more direct, user-friendly ability to be able to purchase and download with one click from my e-reader itself.
• Almost all e-reader brands now also have colour versions available with internet access - but these are actually tablets, rather than dedicated e-readers. So what was the difference between purchasing one of these and purchasing an iPad Mini?
• I then came across this excellent e-reader comparison on ChamberFour, which strongly asserts that the iPad and iPad Mini outclass all other tablets. I read that with relief because at least I could now disregard all tablets in the e-reader brands, so the Kindle Fire (which had been tempting me) was no longer an option.
• It has been widely reported recently that the kind of light emitted by gadgets such as iPads, smart phones and laptop computers interfere with your sleep. This makes sense to me - when I turn my iPhone on at night to read it takes my eyes a few minutes to adjust, and those few minutes can be quite painful. Apparently the effect is similar to daylight and sends the same signals to the brain, making it harder to resume sleeping after using a device that emits this kind of light.
• I love so many things about the iPad Mini. Bibliohubby teases me that I'm like Goldilocks - my iPhone is too small, the iPad is too big, but the iPad Mini is ju-ust right! It's true! And in addition to its perfect size, I love the look of it, I love its functionality, I love that it is in the 'same family' as my other devices which means that, if I purchased one, I could use the same charger across the board, for my phone, my reader, my laptop - so much easier than carrying multiple chargers on flights. BUT: it is twice as expensive as dedicated e-readers and it didn't seem to be much cheaper in duty free or in North America than it is in Australia. Not worth buying on the trip. And I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if I did buy it: soon I will have two children. Next trip, they will both have their own favourite shows. And their own favourite games. Yup - it would be co-opted. And did I really need access to the internet on my reading device? I do after all have a phone and a laptop, both of which can be used for that purpose. Sure, it would be convenient, but if the cost is losing control of the device down the track then that convenience is lost.
• Unlike the iPad Mini, which emits the sleep-interrupting light, it started to sound like the Kindle Paperwhite had devised a new kind of backlight, which was easier on the eyes and, potentially, easier on our sleep. I read this entry at Chamber Four about why someone who had always been anti-Kindle ended up buying a Kindle Paperwhite and I was intrigued.
• I have been an Amazon user since day dot. Seriously, well before it was a publicly listed company (one of my major regrets is not buying shares the day they announced on their homepage that they were going public). When I was a young undergraduate student, I used to trawl Amazon and write reviews. This was in the early '90s, folks. I know that people are anti-Amazon for various reasons including their DRM scheme (heavy rights restrictions on digital content). But I have a Kindle library and an Amazon loyalty and the reality is, I will keep using them and I love the Kindle app too much to change to another e-book-buying platform. I especially love the fact that the Kindle app keeps my place in whatever book I'm reading so that if I put down my iPhone and pick up the iPad, I can keep reading from the same place I left off and vice versa. I also love the highlighting feature, which has become increasingly useful as I have started writing reviews. So when it came down to it, I needed something that was Kindle-compatible.
• The Kindle Paperwhite is more expensive in its international version but it is still half the price of an iPad Mini. It has a touchscreen as well as a backlight. The battery power is supposed to be great - much better than the iPad's. And the backlight is easier on the eyes. And... (hopefully) it wouldn't be co-opted by my family members.

And there you go! Decision made. But I didn't end up making my purchase on our trip. I was too overwhelmed by the choices on offer and by my own churning thought processes, and too underwhelmed by the cost differentiation.

Since returning to Australia and during this late stage of pregnancy, when I am waking up every single night restless and needing to read before getting back to sleep again, I have been using my iPhone at night and the small bright screen is driving me crazy. So just the other day, I bit the bullet. I ordered an Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. And I am so excited about it.

I lost out on access to other apps, but I got, more or less, everything else that I wanted. And then I came across this excellent site, and discovered that I could even prettify my Kindle! So I have now ordered my Paperwhite and some artwork for it, and I am awaiting the arrival of both with great anticipation. I will post pictures and let you know what I think when it is up and working.

In the meantime: I posted this because in my search for the perfect e-reader for me I found that it was incredibly helpful to read about the experiences of other people who had been on the same journey. It's a vast, confusing landscape out there. I hope this does help someone.

Anyone care to share their own e-reader travails? What do you use to download and read e-books?