E Readers

So, Barnes & Noble officially launched its Nook e-reader yesterday.  The Nook is available for pre-order and will begin to ship on November 30. Sony has a couple of E-Readers as well.  And, of course, there's the Kindle.

I tried the Kindle (Kindle 1).  I wasn't a fan.  Here were my three biggest complaints, and I'm not sure whether these complaints are specific to the Kindle 1 or are applicable to all e-readers as I haven't tried any others.

1.  I often have a bite-sized window to read a chapter or a portion of a chapter of a book.  I like to sit down, page through my book and see, "Can I get to the end of the chapter?  Is there a good place to stop if I cannot?"  I couldn't do that with the Kindle.  Screens obviously don't load anywhere near as quickly as you can flip them in a physical book.

2.  I have no conception of "pages" on the Kindle 1.  Even if I could easily figure out how many "screens" there are until the end of a chapter, I have no conception of what that means.  I have around 35 years of reading experience and have come to understand the concept of, "Honey, I'll turn off the light soon--I have five pages until the end of the chapter."  I know, based on the book, how long that's going to take.  "Honey, I'll turn off the light soon--let me see--counting screens--still counting [See 1 above]--OK, I have 22 screens" just isn't helpful. 

3.  I like paging back.  Sometimes, I want to remember a character's name or a reference from earlier in a book.  I can generally picture in my mind approximately where in the book I need to look and where the reference appeared on a page.  On the Kindle 1, I could bookmark a page, but usually I don't know that I am going to want to go back there until much later.  And, as the Daniel Suarez Virtual Book Club book is Anathem, complete with a glossary beginning on page 890, it's nice to be able to easily flip to and fro without having to press a bunch of numbers.


My other problem with e-readers in general is that I cannot figure out what books, magazines and newspapers I can get on what e-readers.  Each manufacturer says something different about what's available.  I am assuming (though do not know for sure) that items like best selling books are available on all e-readers.

If anyone can enlighten me here, please comment.  I have met many Kindle lovers who have few, if any, complaints--all of which are outweighed by the convenience of the Kindle.

Remember, Reading is Fundamental.  I know that because that's what they used to say on Saturday mornings.