BY NOOK OR BY CROOK OR BY NETBOOK

By Writer X

Before Christmas, I wrote a post about Nooks, Kindles, Sonys, and Vooks. And, no, it wasn’t a clever post about celebrity baby names. It was a post about new technological gizmos for people dipping their toes into the brave new world of paperless, downloadable books. As of that post, I said the Nook tempted me. Bad. But Santa left me something else entirely underneath the Christmas tree. And it wasn’t a lump of coal.

I got a Netbook for Christmas.

For those of you unfamiliar with Netbooks, it’s like a laptop only smaller. Mine also has this really cool psychedelic-like cover, but that is not the reason why I can say unequivocally that it has absolutely changed my life in ways I never thought possible. All of them good. Better than good. In fact, I’ll put the Netbook up there with miracle inventions like indoor plumbing, microwaves, and the dishwasher.

For starters, my Netbook weighs two pounds. Two pounds! It fits inside my purse! I have a wallet stuffed with credit card receipts and loose change that weights more than two pounds. Now, wherever I go, my Netbook comes along too. It’s a million times more convenient than a bulky laptop. And yet it’s bigger and more practical, at least for me, than those teeny tiny Blackberry or iPhone screens and their annoying keypads.

My Netbook has a 10-inch screen, 135 gigs of space, Windows 7, and the keyboard is 90% the size of a full-size keyboard. In other words, it took me all of about 5 seconds to get used to the smaller keyboard. If you’re a writer, student, world traveler, or business owner who takes his work wherever you go, consider a Netbook. If I were a college student again, a Netbook is definitely the way to go.

And it’s cheaper than a laptop (although less powerful) and even more convenient. But if you’re an avid gamer, photographer, or graphic artist, a Netbook probably won’t have the power you need.

For me, it’s been a match made in technological heaven. Now when I’m out and about and I have a story idea or simply feel the need to jot down some super clever dialogue that pops into my head for a book I’m trying to finish, I pull out my Netbook instead of a piece of scrap paper (that I often lose) or a pencil/pen (that I can never find inside the bowels of my purse). It’s also great for traveling. And although I don’t usually use the free wifi at coffee shops, hotels, libraries, or restaurants, the Netbook has that connectivity, too. If you have a wireless system in your house, carting around your Netbook and connecting to the Net is as easy as carrying around a book.

But, back to Nooks, Kindles, and Sony e-Readers…

Barnes & Noble sold a ton of Nooks over the holidays and Amazon did brisk business with their Kindles. However, they—the Nooks, especially—were not without the usual start-up glitches. For starters, Barnes & Noble could not meet the demand and ran out of the Nooks. Then there were linkage issues to the e-book stores. Not a great way to start.

A writer friend of mine who bought a Nook (and actually received hers) said that the Nook has an annoying lag time between pages. So, imagine if you were reading a really great book and were into the story but you had to wait 5-10 seconds before you could begin reading the next page. That would be a total bummer. I will wait to see how the glitches flesh out before I reconsider the Nook. And, there are all sorts of stories out now about copycat e-reader devices (e.g. Samsung, enTourage, Copia, RCS) which will, hopefully, drive down the prices and improve the technology. The e-readers are still a little pricey, in my opinion. And it’s not like you’re saving a bundle either on the downloadable books. It’s not like the music industry where you can buy a song on iTunes for a dollar. You’re paying for convenience with the e-readers. And to save the polar bears.

Interestingly, on Christmas Day, more people purchased downloadable Kindle books through Amazon than physical books. A sign of things to come? We’ll see if the trend continues. I have a feeling that it will.

And that will change the whole landscape for writers in terms of advances, royalties, and distribution channels, but I’ll save that for another post. I’m still basking in the glow of my Netbook.

Links:

Nook Problems

Kindle Scores At Amazon