Kindle: Pros and Cons

A little over a month ago I mentioned I was starting to become interested in an e-reader and asked opinions. Then, Eric's mom let me borrow her Kindle over my vacation last week. After reading 2 1/2 books on it (still working on the 3rd) and using it for over a week, I thought you might be interested to know my pros and cons of the Kindle.

Before you read you should know that I was a little bit against e-readers because I love books and I am sick of electronics and all the dang cords they carry with them. So I guess you could say I was a skeptic. But alas... I was also once anti-Uggs and anti-Vera Bradley..

Pros:

1. For travel, an e-reader is clearly the way to go. They take up almost no space in your suitcase and you don't have to plan ahead what you are going to read. Just start reading, and download another book when you are done. Never again will you carry 3 hardcover books and only get through 1 of them... or one hardcover book and have to find a bookstore to buy another one.

2. The Kindle is really convenient to hold and you can easily be doing something else while reading. For example, when I got to the airport on Saturday, I was easily able to eat my bagel with cream cheese while reading my Kindle on my lap. No table necessary. There is also no page turning if you want to read the Kindle on an elliptical machine at the gym. We know I love to multi-task.

3. I love the library and I love bookstores, but it is pretty awesome to have the instant gratification of downloading a book in a matter of seconds. Maybe this would be less of an issue if I didn't have a habit of always sending library books to the wrong library. If I send it to the library near work I will without fail want to pick it up while near home, if I send it near home, I will without fail be doing errands near work.

4. I read faster on the Kindle. I attribute this to the fact that having shorter "pages" makes me think I can read "just one more" and then "just one more." This was a good thing on vacation, might not be so good when I'm back to work haha.

5. Other random things I like about the Kindle include: not needing bookmarks (that I forever lose), how easy it is to see it in the sun (nothing like a computer screen), and being able to see what other people have highlighted in the book (you can also turn this off if you don't want to see it).

Cons:

1. I still do not love the idea of another cord. The Kindle supposedly lasts for 30 days without being charged, but I get edgy about these things. Also, the Nook does not last as long.

2. I do not like paying for books. The books I read over vacation cost me about $15 total, including 1 of the books was a steal at 99 cents! I normally don't buy books often, so that's $15 more than I would've spent. The Nook does allow you to take books from the library on it which is why if I buy an e-reader I will probably buy a Nook. It's shocking to me that the Kindle doesn't allow this yet.

3. It does bug me a bit that I can't go back to a previous page easily. This didn't really bother me until I was reading the book I'm reading now that skips a year or so between each chapter and I like to try to figure out how old the characters are based on the dates... confusing!

Overall I am definitely a fan of the Kindle now, especially for traveling. I probably won't run out and buy one right now mainly because I can't decide between the Kindle and the Nook. I am comfortable with the Kindle and like it now, but the no library books is kind of a deal breaker for me. If you are considering buying a Kindle or a Nook (or an Ipad), I've found some good articles on how to choose between them: Kindle vs. Nook and Which E-Book Reader Should You Buy?

Do you have a Kindle or Nook? What do you think of them? Do you ever get scared that computers are slowly going to take over the world?