I bought my first gen nook mainly for two reasons..
1) I didn't like the keyboard on the Kindle
2) I wanted to support the brick and mortar store
Since then we've added 2nd Gen Nook (for the wife)
Nook Color
Nook ST (for me
Nook HD+ (for magazines)
Comparing the Nook ST to the papewhite...I'd hate to lose my page turn buttons.
Charles