[PaulAuster]

After a lot of research (much more extensive than expected) among the different devices and e-book formats I ended up buying the Kindle Touch. One of my priorities was to have my books in open format, so I could read them in the future as happens with paper books. The inability of Kindle to read EPUB and having books on Amazon in AZW was something that made me go for the Nook and Sony at first.

However, after researching options decided to go for the Kindle. I discovered that my main worry could be surpassed converting AZW files to MOBI (with Calibre). I made my first purchase at Amazon and it went well. Not very easy if you are not comfortable with computers, but it is not my case.

Also, EPUB can be converted to MOBI, so the Kindle could handle all formats at least indirectly. Going for the Nook or Sony would have left me without the content of Amazon, that like it or not it is the biggest book shop on Earth. I also was in doubt of B&N survival in the medium term, so another minus for the Nook. Finally, the Sony just did not like me. It looks to me like a device from the ‘80s (maybe because of the very square form factor and the big buttons).

After a couple of hours using the Kindle I found it nice. Not very responsive and a bit slow but reading was nice. I found it very convenient, very portable. Clearly, it is device to read literature or plain text, it is not for visual content like magazines. Also, I reinforced the idea that an ebook reader is not for textbooks, at least those with charts and graphics like those I use, and clearly not good for hard studying. Going back and forth, seeing the charts and so on while you read is not practical.

So, in the end, the “ecosystem” won. Once again, you can have the best device or format in theory but if you don’t have content is it just a piece of plastic. The same happened to me with the IPhone/Ipad. I never like the idea of being tied to Apple, but application came first to Iphone or Ipad and maybe later for other platforms.