I got my Cybook yesterday and it was love at first sight. I´ve read a lot about the Cybook lately, but finally hoding it in my hands was quite an experience. In fact, it was also an experience to carry it around today. Especially because of the reactions of other people. So here are some impressions of my first day with my Cybook.
In the morning, I had a meeting with a business associate. I was right in time, he let me wait. He always does. Normally I would be pissed, at least a little, but with my Cybook in my bag having to wait was the best thing to happen. I was reading the first pages of Dracula when he entered the room. He told me the papers I came for were just about to be ready. Looking at my Cybook on the table, he said “Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, there are 2 meetings in December. You may just put the dates in your palm. It´s December 4th and…”
“Oh, that´s not a palm. It´s a Cybook, it´s an e-….”.
“Sure. Let´s see, it´s December 4th and 10th.
“No, er, I cannot put any dates in here.”
“Oh, you want to charge the battery in my office for a few minutes?”
“No, thanks. In fact, the battery
is charged. It´s a Cybook, it´s for reading.”
“As I always say: Those mini notebooks are a mess. Never work as they should.”
“It´s not a NOTEbook, it´s a Cybook, a device for reading.”
“Sure it is. Wait.
What? You can only
read, not write?”
“Yes, it´s like a library for your pocket, it carries up to 160 books.”
Now he really looked horrified. “Who the hell would buy such a thing?”
When I arrived at work some hours later, my colleague and our secretary were talking about a current project. I opened my bag and – with a huge smile – put the Cybook on the table. “What´s this?”, the secretary asked. “Oh, you finally got your new toy”, my colleague said before I could answer the question. I had told him I´ve bought an ebook reader so he could guess. “Toy – Oh, I see!”, the secreatary said. “My nephew has so much fun with his Nintendo. He´s playing all the time.”
“Well, actually it´s not a Nintendo, it´s a Cybook”, I tried to explain.
“Cybook, Nintendo – isn´t it all the same? But I thought it was more for, er, teenagers. So what games are you playing on it?”.
“What
games?” I felt somehow exhausted. “Well”, I said , “The game´s called Bram Stoker´s Dracula. Your highscore depends on how many secreataries´ heads you cut off in 5 minutes.” My colleague couldn´t stop laughing.
You see, Germany is not quite ready for ebook readers. I´m glad I found this site and its fora. You make me feel less “alien”
Best regards
ravenne