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And here I said "never ...."
Jan. 4th, 2011 06:05 pmNever say never, folks.
For the holidays, I got two lovely gifts: a pair of shiny earrings, and a Nook.
Consider how much I love shiny things.
Consider that, a few years ago around the holidays, just when the first e-readers were coming out, I was "interviewed" by some woman-on-the-street reporter who asked me if I'd spring for one: I pointed out that I'd just, you know, lugged 4 tonnes of books cross-country; that I loved books as artifacts, from their heft to their smell to the physical memories entwined in them, their stains and dogears and fossilized insect remains, a la amber (I have a few books from my summer camp years preserving my various triumphs over mosquitos). I did also point out that I thought they'd be great for my students, sparing them the agony of hauling a day's worth of books there and back again - she looked dumbfounded (and, come to that, I've yet to see any university formally pursuing that).
So, guess which gift I love more?
Dudes, it's a tie.
Now, don't get me wrong: shiny is shiny, but the Nook is an absolute delight. It's tiny, about the size of my spread palm, or a smallish journal, or half a paperback book unfolded: it's light, less than pretty much every hardcover I've ever found, and most paperbacks too, come to that; and, best of all, the battery life has lasted me from Sunday night until now, going through a trans-Atlantic flight, a long, lazy lunch, and a hot bath, with approximately half its battery life to go. It's incredibly easy to find what you're looking for (obscure books on weird topics! many of which are free!), and it's great at picking up WiFi (as it ought to be, since, without it, you can't give B&N any more money). I'd been sorta kinda halfway tempted by the other e-readers I'd seen ... but the iPad is too bulky for me to stuff in my purse, and, frankly, I don't need 3/4ths of the crap it can do. I don't want to play video games, I probably won't watch movies on the go even if I have the wherewithal, and, frankly, I'd rather uses a piece of string to play with my cat than an app. The Kindle? Cool, but still sorta bulky, and the whole e-ink thing got on my nerves a bit (plus the page load speed seemed a bit slow, which is a bitch for a speed-reader). Nook? Compact, fast, and monomaniacal - it is basically the perfect device for a voracious reader who travels a lot. I left Frommer's Paris guidebook in NY to save my back (frankly, it's not like I ever took it out with me, anyway), and downloaded a Time Out: Paris; win all around, I say!
So: Nook, highly recommended by the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
d_aulnoy ; next post, Paris.
P.S. - Or not: I'm reading Savvy Chic: The Art of More For Less on the device, and absolutely loving it: this may call for a review.
For the holidays, I got two lovely gifts: a pair of shiny earrings, and a Nook.
Consider how much I love shiny things.
Consider that, a few years ago around the holidays, just when the first e-readers were coming out, I was "interviewed" by some woman-on-the-street reporter who asked me if I'd spring for one: I pointed out that I'd just, you know, lugged 4 tonnes of books cross-country; that I loved books as artifacts, from their heft to their smell to the physical memories entwined in them, their stains and dogears and fossilized insect remains, a la amber (I have a few books from my summer camp years preserving my various triumphs over mosquitos). I did also point out that I thought they'd be great for my students, sparing them the agony of hauling a day's worth of books there and back again - she looked dumbfounded (and, come to that, I've yet to see any university formally pursuing that).
So, guess which gift I love more?
Dudes, it's a tie.
Now, don't get me wrong: shiny is shiny, but the Nook is an absolute delight. It's tiny, about the size of my spread palm, or a smallish journal, or half a paperback book unfolded: it's light, less than pretty much every hardcover I've ever found, and most paperbacks too, come to that; and, best of all, the battery life has lasted me from Sunday night until now, going through a trans-Atlantic flight, a long, lazy lunch, and a hot bath, with approximately half its battery life to go. It's incredibly easy to find what you're looking for (obscure books on weird topics! many of which are free!), and it's great at picking up WiFi (as it ought to be, since, without it, you can't give B&N any more money). I'd been sorta kinda halfway tempted by the other e-readers I'd seen ... but the iPad is too bulky for me to stuff in my purse, and, frankly, I don't need 3/4ths of the crap it can do. I don't want to play video games, I probably won't watch movies on the go even if I have the wherewithal, and, frankly, I'd rather uses a piece of string to play with my cat than an app. The Kindle? Cool, but still sorta bulky, and the whole e-ink thing got on my nerves a bit (plus the page load speed seemed a bit slow, which is a bitch for a speed-reader). Nook? Compact, fast, and monomaniacal - it is basically the perfect device for a voracious reader who travels a lot. I left Frommer's Paris guidebook in NY to save my back (frankly, it's not like I ever took it out with me, anyway), and downloaded a Time Out: Paris; win all around, I say!
So: Nook, highly recommended by the
d_aulnoy ; next post, Paris.P.S. - Or not: I'm reading Savvy Chic: The Art of More For Less on the device, and absolutely loving it: this may call for a review.