E-Books: A Library in Your Pocket
The digital age is well upon us, and has been for some time. We’ve seen music digitized by CDs, movies digitized by DVDs, mail digitized by E-Mail, and film digitized by digital cameras, so it should come as no surprise that books have been digitized as well. In e-book form, the average book is only about 20MB in size, meaning a MicroSD card the size of your thumbnail could easily hold millions of novels, and with an E-Book Reader, you can literally carry a library of books right in your pocket. The current e-book readers on the market offer all sorts of different features, so we decided to take a look at some of the most popular.
Even though there were e-book readers around long before the original Kindle, it revolutionized the industry by taking the relatively simple task of storing and displaying e-books and pairing it with some of the latest technologies, like wireless capabilities, electronic ink displays, and an integrated book store. The latest Kindle, version 3, is no stranger to modern technologies. Like its predecessor, it includes WiFi, physical QWERTY keypad, and optional 3G data connectivity, but it also features a more compact chassis, faster hardware, more storage space, and better battery life.
The Sony Reader Pocket PRS-350
The PRS-350 is the top rated e-book reader on alaTest right now. It offers the usual build quality you’d expect from a Sony product, but without the huge Sony price tag. It lacks any sort of wireless connectivity, but it does feature a very responsive touch screen and high-contrast E-Ink display. If you intend on using an e-book reader strictly for e-books, the PRS-350 really with the best choice for the job; however, web browsing and wireless file transfers, you’ll want to look elsewhere.
The Nook Color is by far the most feature rich e-book reader available. Built on the Android platform, it’s actually more of a Tablet than an e-book reader, but with its Barnes & Noble proprietary software, it offers a great e-booking experience. It has a healthy e-book library to browse and purchase new titles, a full web browser, and perhaps most importantly, a color LCD screen. This of course makes a bit more expensive than other options, and that color screen means you’ll only be able to read for hours between charges instead of days.
Tablet and Smartphone Alternative
With today’s app-centric mobile world, you can read e-books on your Windows or Android Smartphone, iPhone, iPad, or Android Tablet. Each platform has various e-book solutions, such as a Kindle app for the iOS (iPhone and iPad) and Android. There is also an official Google Books app for Android, and apps like GoReader bringing Google Books to Windows Phone 7. Of course Smartphones’ smaller screens aren’t ideal for e-booking, and tablets can only offer several hours of battery life. Still, both Smartphones and Tablets offer suitable e-book solutions if you don’t care to invest in a dedicated e-book reader.
