eReaders

This is a very pragmatic blog post, just to share what I’ve learned about e-readers.  It is not meant to be comprehensive, just useful.

There are four e-readers that I find interesting.  I use all four of them, partly to spread the wealth around, and partly because they each have a feature or two that I like.  I use them both on my PCs and on my iOS devices (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPhone).

Kindle - Amazon
Hardware: yes. Electronic paper. WiFi (and for fee GSM). USB
Software: PCs, Macs, iOS, Android, Blackberry
Software night reading mode: yes
Formats supported: Kindle, mobi,
Importing: only books downloaded from the Kindle store can be used w/ the software versions.  WIth the hardware version, importing is possible.

Nook - Barnes and Noble
Hardware: yes. Electronic paper. WiFi, USB
Software: PCs, Macs, iOS, Android
Software night reading mode: yes
Formats supported: Nook, ePub, PDB, PDF
Importing: only books downloaded from the Nook store can be used w/ the software versions. With the hardware version, importing is possible.

iBooks - Apple
Hardware: no.
Software: iOS
Software night reading mode: no
Formats supported: Apple, ePub, PDF
Importing: Book files can be dragged onto the Books section in iTunes and then synced w/ the device.

Stanza - Lexcycle (a division of Amazon)
Hardware: no.
Software: PC, Macs, iOS
Software night reading mode: yes
Formats supported: ePub, eReader. The PC and Mac versions can handle almost any format.
Importing: Many ways to import books.  This is in fact one of the big draws for Stanza

 
Some comments:

Electronic paper:
This is a display technology that is different that the LCD screens on laptops and phones. It only works in black and white, but has two terrific properties:
- It does not require back-lighting.  It works very much like ink on paper.  Thus it is very readable in direct sunlight but must be illuminated to be read in the dark.  LCDs are the opposite: very hard to read in sunlight, easy to read in the dark.
- It only requires power when changing the display to a new page.  Thus the battery life on the Kindle and the Nook is exceptional - days and weeks.

Acquiring eBooks:
All the eReaders have online download stores.  Kindle, Nook, and iBooks are nearly equivalent in their for-sale offerings.  I try to spread the business around.  Stanza has some for-sale offerings.  All have some free offerings, but Stanza is great way to read the free books on the Internet.  All the for-sale stores keep a record of your purchases and you can download them for like.  However, it is probably prudent to save the email confirmations of your purchases.