Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Nook VS Book Nook VS Kindle Nook VS Netbook ---- Do We Really Care?


Ok, I will admit it.  For several years I have been having a love affair.  With technology.  It started when I got my first computer -- not the first computer in the house but MY first computer with internet access.  Of course there were the cell phones which I refused to have until I had one and now I can't imagine being "disconnected" without a phone.  I didn't have much interest in ipods and such as I am not a huge music person but I fell madly in love with e-readers.  The NOOK by Barnes and Noble to be exact.

I had looked at ipads but was told that since we don't run windows I wouldn't be able to use it.  Not really sure why but I accepted that answer.  I had looked at Kindle's and Samsung devices but when the NOOK came out I was in a comfortable place.  I bought the first one...the second one....the third one....and now I have had one of each version to come out.  The latest is the NOOK Glo-light because I wanted something light weight and lit so I could read in bed.  I also felt that having an e-reader would help me curb my book hoarding collecting as I was running out of bookcase space.  Do I use them?  Well, yes and no.  Right now "no" as I have a good number of physical books on my shelf that I would like to read so I am trying to get through them.  Will I ever finish?  I have no idea but I feel a purge coming on.  Do I read in bed?  Uh, no.  When I go to bed it is all I can do to stay awake before I get horizontal.  I don't think I am ever going to read in bed because if I get still and warm I go to sleep.

So, then, why am I so aggravated that the NOOK part of the B&N business has been discontinued.  Why am I so put out that my collections of NOOKS will probably be completely obsolete by the end of the year when the business is gone and the "cloud" disappears.  I think I am aggravated because I got sucked into the whole thing.

So, as I am mourning the probable expiration of the device, am I looking at a Kindle.  Not the Kindle fire but probably the Kindle Paperwhite -- just to read books.  I don't need it but it is sort of like the cell phone -- I can't picture myself without it.

However, I this morning I discovered the Kindle Cloud Reader which you can use from a browser and you don't need a Kindle device.  I logged into my Amazon account, went to the cloud reader, downloaded a free book and voila! there it was for me to read.  So what would any sane person do-- I downloaded another!  So, I can actually have the same e-reader experience with my netbook.  The only downside is that I can't readily throw that into my purse. It is small --10" -- so with a tote I could but it would be a little too heavy to carry around.  But, still -- I am just saying that I could satisfy my e-book attachment without having to actually having to go buy another device.  Apparently there is no Kindle app for NOOK --- very convenient that is.

All of this sort of conflicts with my new minimalist mindset a bit.  I bought the e-reader(s) to reduce the number of books in my personal library but then I have too many NOOKS and I still buy physical books so that sort of didn't work.  I am still hoarding books -- just virtual ones -- because I have discovered BookBub where you can download free books each and every day.  Many of them that I wanted were only available for Amazon but now that I have learned about the Kindle Cloud, well, you see where this is going.

As I become more minimally minded, I am discovering that I like my blog more and Facebook less.  I find that I am doing my household chores more "old school" and using fewer "gadgets". It seems like my fascination with technology is losing steam.  So, is it possible that the solution to the entire problem is just going to the library?

Update

 Ok, so we visited our cardiologist yesterday to get the lay of the land for the Hubs.  Seems there is an issue with one of the grafts from ...