Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyZ
I have had a Kindle now for a while, and just bought an iPod Touch a few weeks ago.
When I got the Kindle, I found paper books to be inconvenient. (heavy and unwieldy) When I got the Touch, the Kindle became heavy and unwieldy, at least for reading on the go.
So my recommendation is to get a Kindle DX for mostly sedentary reading and an iPod Touch for reading on the go. If you can't afford a Kindle DX, "settle" for the Kindle 2 or 3.
I recommend the Kindle because of Amazon support and also because the quality of the devices is very good. Their selection is good, but you're not even limited to buying from Amazon; you can buy books any place that offers them in MOBI or PDF format. But the neat thing about buying them from Amazon is that they store them for you. You don't have to use the memory on your device to store your books after they're read.
The 4th generation iPod Touch (and iPhone) both have a VERY high resolution screen, such that reading on them is no longer a strain. It is probably 90% as easy on the eyes as e-ink. Page turns are much faster, so the fact that you have to turn pages a bit more often is not an issue. The only real issue could be battery life. If you cannot charge it up every day or two, you may want to stick with a Kindle.
I have no experience with Sony and other readers, however it is my understanding that downloading books is not as convenient and the same is true of storing them later.
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I think your post summs up exactly what Barnes and Noble and Sony are losing out on. Top to bottom visability. Their devices store, download (at least Sony's higher end models) in the same manner as the Kindle, via wi fi and/or 3G. In fact you have more options when shopping with a nook or sony than you do with the Kindle due to the wider accepted use of epub that the Kindle does not support. (keeping in mind that we are shopping legally and no stripping or converting
)
But Amazon has done a fantastic job of marketing it's product. Great commericials, an in your face on the amazon website, where everyone and their mother go shopping for something, so it's visibility is second to none.
Barnes and Noble do a great job of in store promotions, and a pretty good job via the internet and youtube. but not everyone goes into a Barnes and Noble.
sony has nothing basically.
I do truely think the Kindle is the least desirable out of the top three. But the way they have marketed their product. You have to give it up to them. They did a fantastic job. If the other two could and would have done even just half of the advertising, it just may have been a different story.