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Now that I have had the opportunity to test drive a Nook Tablet, I can say, without a doubt, if you’re looking for an e-reader, you may want to consider purchasing a Kindle, rather than a Nook.

First, not all the books I purchase through Barnes and Noble are available across all my devices. For example, I purchased a special edition of a book entitled Crucial Conversations, and I am unable to access that book on my iPad. There are also at least two other titles I am unable to access either on my iPad or through using the Nook desktop app. For someone like myself, who is an avid reader, being able to access books on all my devices is vital. Unlike the Nook and Barnes & Noble e-books, every title I have purchased through Amazon has been available across every device. In the age of e-books and those of us who are avid e-readers, having anytime-anywhere access is key and the Nook fails on that count.

Secondly, the Barnes & Noble Nook tablet e-reader software makes for a “buggy” reading experience. On several occasions my reading has been interrupted with a screen inexplicably going blank, and I usually have to back out of the book I’m reading and reload it to get the text back. Also, on several occasions, the text I highlight either does not highlight, or I am unable to select specific words due to software glitches. In addition, on a few occasions, when I have tried to advance a page, the page simply would not advance. There also have been occasions when the “highlight text selection bar” freezes on my screen and I am unable to clear it. When e-reader software has this many bugs, it can make for quite a miserable reading experience. In contrast, with my Kindle Fire, I have never had any of these experiences. Avid e-readers like myself don’t mind a few bugs and quirks in the software, as long as they don’t unduly affect the reading experience. So far. my experience with the Nook e-reader software on the tablet has been borderline miserable.

Finally, the Nook PC Desktop software has many problems too. It suffers from many performance issues. It runs extremely slow in comparison to the Kindle PC software and takes much longer to load. It also suffers from strange, buggy behavior like the Nook tablet software. On several occasions, titles I have purchased, suddenly ask for credit card numbers to verify I have purchased them, even though I have purchased them. This especially happens after you download and install an update. It can be quite frustrating to have to uninstall and redownload purchased books again and again, but that is what I’ve had to do with the Nook desktop software. There are also titles I’ve purchased that I can read on my Nook tablet, but can’t access through my desktop app. Being able to read all of my purchased books on my desktop is important to me. The Nook desktop software is also prone to freezing on occasion as well, and this shouldn’t happen because I have more than enough memory and processing power. In addition to these issues, there are timee when  I highlight text and make notes on my handheld devices. These do not sync with the desktop app. This is important to me because I often highlight, read text, and make notes while using my tablet, then refer to those on my PC, but with the Nook desktop app, this is impossible. In contrast, any notes I take or textual highlights made using the Kindle handhelds appears in the Kindle Desktop app too. Over all, the Nook PC desktop app suffers from performance issues, buggy behavior, and syncing problems.

Overall, Amazon e-books and the Kindle offer readers a much better reading experience than e-books purchased through Barns & Noble and read on Nook devices. Barnes & Noble e-books and the Nook tablet suffer from performance issues that make for one frustrated reading experience.

Amazon now offers Kindle users still another tool that makes using a Kindle even more functional. They now offer a "Send to Kindle" app that lets users upload any document to their Kindle. This means users no longer have to read those lengthy MS Word and PDF documents from a PC. Users can add functionality by installing this simple application to their PC. 

Let me disclose upfront that I am a regular Kindle fan. Even though I now have a Kindle Fire, I refuse to give up my old Kindle, so don’t anyone ask if I’m willing to sell it. I love its compact size, it’s simplicity in use, and it’s no glare display. About the only thing about the old Kindle I struggled with was the fact that I had to use an external light to read. Of course the Kindle Fire’s display takes care of that problem. This device reinforces once more why I love Amazon’s e-reader devices. If I were to make some early observations about the Kindle Fire, here they are.

• The Kindle Fire is almost the exact same dimensions of my older Kindle. (See picture below.) It is just a bit heavier and thicker, but it still fits right in my single hand, small enough to curl up with. No doubt, Amazon’s Kindle designers had that in mind when they designed the device. It’s dimensions, thickness and weight still make it easy to hold when reading.

• The Kindle Fire display is perfect for the e-reader and for the light media and app-user. While I know there’s a great deal of talk about this device encroaching on iPad’s domain, I’m not sure I would go that far yet. However, if you only use your iPad for e-reading, media consuming, social media, and email, then I would say that perhaps you would be happy with the Kindle Fire. It easily does all of those things. It is a media consumption device only, not a media production device. If you want to create media too, then get another tablet device. If you only want to read, listen, view, or use apps, then get a Kindle Fire. Why buy a device that takes pictures or records audio if all you’re going to do is consume media anyway?
• The E-Reading app on the Kindle Fire captures all the features of the iPad Kindle app that are useful. Highlighting text and taking notes works just as it does on the iPad Kindle app. You can also control the background color of the page, text size, margins, and choose your font. The folks at Amazon did not sacrifice a thing for those of us who use these devices primarily for e-reading.
• The Apps available for the Kindle Fire include some favorite desktop and iPad apps. There’s Seesmic for Twitter users. There’s also Evernote for those of us who rely heavily on the note taking application. For Angry Birds enthusiasts, you’ll find your favorite versions too. I noticed that the Amazon app store is also offering apps like Quickoffice too. I am sure Amazon’s app store will only expand with demand for additional apps.
• The Kindle Fire’s high definition display makes watching video pleasurable on a small device. Honestly, when I want to watch a high definition movie, nothing beats my Samsung 60” LED TV. But, watching video on the Kindle Fire is pleasurable as well. It’s high definition screen made watching some of the pilot episode of Lost enjoyable.

Kindle Fire's Compact Size

In my opinion, whether or not to purchase a Kindle Fire depends entirely upon what you want to do with the device. If you want to be able to consume and create media, then an iPad or other tablet device is your best bet. If all you’re going to do is read, get an older Kindle, especially now that you can purchase one for less than $100. But if you want to be able to do these three things:

• read, listen and watch media
• check email and engage in social media like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn
• use and access your favorite online apps like Evernote

then get a Kindle Fire. It does these three things as well as any tablet.

The Kindle Fire effectively combines the perfect size and simplicity of the old Kindle with the features we love about all tablets, and gives users a perfect media consumption device.

I can announce as of today, I am a completely converted E-Book reader. I haven’t purchased a book in physical form in over five months. For someone who historically purchased four to five books a month, that is a significant change, and I’m sure it makes book publishers nervous.

What’s really interesting about my whole e-book experience is that I remember distinctly saying when someone suggested I buy a Kindle, “I just don’t see myself curling up with one of those newfangled devices for a good read.” The truth is, I fought well for the traditional book, and vowed I wouldn’t use one of those things. Ultimately though, it turns out that “newfangled device” is pretty comfortable to use, and words are words are words. Does it really matter if they are on paper or on a screen? Perhaps for me, the real beauty is in the words anyway. Besides there are other things about e-books that make them attractive to the book lover. Here’s some more things that have hastened my conversion.

• I now have access to my library on any device.  Now that I have Kindle apps loaded on every electronic device I own, I can read my books anywhere. I have the Kindle app on my iPad, on both my PCs, my Android phone, Kindle Cloud Reader in my Chrome browser, and I even own a Kindle too. I can literary read anywhere and at any time. In all fairness, I should also mention I had any time access when I carried my book with me too, but when I failed to bring it with me, I was left standing and wondering, “If I only had my book.” Now, with all the apps and devices, chances are my book is following me around instead of me carrying it around.
• I can literally tote a 72 volume library around with me. I am one of those readers who reads five to eight books simultaneously which created an burdensome problem. When I had to carry around all those books, it usually meant toting around a heavy book bag. No need to worry with my Kindle library. I literally have a library at my side at all times. No more heavy book bags for me.
• I can easily take notes and underline things to remember. I am an avid highlighter and note taker. I take notes and underline quotes constantly as I read. I could do this with a physical book, but that meant I had to make sure I had the note taking tools with me while reading. With my Kindle apps, I have a highlighter and note taking tool at my fingertips at all times, so when I come to a memorable line or quote I want to highlight, I can do so without searching for them.
• I can buy a new book with the click of a button. This is not necessarily a good thing. It is too easy to buy a new book. But with my Amazon Kindle account, I can one-click download a book without the aggravation of going anywhere. This means I can get the book today, not to mention at a usually cheaper price too. I also means I’m tempted to buy books fairly often too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my books. I have quite a collection lining the walls in my home. And, I love the smell of paper pages and the way the pages feel on my fingertips as I turn the pages as much as the next bibliophile. But, I have been able to sacrifice those experiences with little regret. I suppose you can now call me an e-bibliophile.