I'm not really a gadget guy ... but it depends. I was very interested in the Sony e-readers when they arrived in Canada ... but they were $400+, more for the better model. And you had to buy books from Sony, and hardly anyone, except Sony, carried the device. So I sat back.
For some years, I'd be an Amazon customer and, while I preferred to deal with local brand Chapters/INdigo, the reality was Amazon had a MUCH better bookstore, prices were often cheaper and delivery times much compressed.
On Nov 20th, 2009, Amazon finally came to Canada with a 3G Kindle 2 -- 2GB memory, Amazon delivered content in 60 seconds, bountiful content and great bookstore. And the price was $259. I gave it a go and was hooked within the first day. Reading, as a personal passion was, erm, re-kindled. I read about a novel a week and have been exploring classics, mid-century and recent authors with equal anticipation and pleasure. I love mystery tales -- esp detective fiction -- and what a treasure lode of content there is!
I took the Kindle on holiday Mexico in December and, for the first time, didn't drag 5 or 6 pbacks. Reading on the plane was awesome; and it made it to the beach as well. In a second trip in February, the 3G wikipedia kept me informed on a five hour bus trip through the Sierra Madres from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara. And free 3G access. Take that, iPhone!
But there is one gap: ePub support and public library support (which is mainly ePub). Enter the Kobo on May 1 and, at $149, half what I paid for the Kindle, case and shipping. Kobo is a great device: smaller, lighter, same size screen, dead simple features and extensive bookstore, including Canadian items not available at Amazon. I miss the dictionary and the bookstore experience; but it is what it is and it does that well. And, it gives me library access.
Both the Kindle 2 and Kobo have paid for themselves in savings of books purchased or read that would othersie have cost me cash out of pocket. And they've saved me money in other ways: just because reading is taking more of my liesure time, more expensive pursuits have been toned down (like Blu-ray movies). I don't factor that behavioural change in, by my bank balance shows it nonetheless.
So why did I then add a Kindle 3 wifi? Well, maybe that's my inner gadget gaga guy showing up. But, heck: e-readers and e-reading in the past nine months have been so satisifying, I deserved the upgrade.
And it IS an upgrade: in screen quality, in more words per screen, in the ability to share simultaneously the content I am acquiring across both Kindles. Not to mention the wifi is WAY faster and the case with the light less obtrusive to the husband at night.
I'm satisfied with the Kindle 3, and the Kobo as my gateway to ePub and library books. I won't need a new e-reader for a long time to come. But, err, what's that you say? A Kobo 2 with Pearl e-ink and wifi for $129? Where's my wallet?
