I'm cheap, therefore I Kobo

I took the plunge and bought an eBook reader last week. I've been watching the technology (and the price) since pre-Kindle days, but didn't take the plunge until the Kobo reader was released in Canada last weekend. At $149 CAD it was definitely the right price and e-ink with ePub and PDF formats was the right technology.

Unless you count the "easter egg" that lets you play video poker on it, the Kobo doesn't do anything other than let you read books. It has no wifi, no touchscreen, and no ability to annotate, underline, or surf the web. You can't get a book from out of the ether onto the reader without plugging into a computer.

I bought this particular reader for several different reasons. It is lightweight (222 grams) which makes holding it for long periods of time a non-issue. The scalable fonts are good for my old(er) eyes. I realized that I didn't need something that could also surf the Internet. We have five computers at our house. I have a smartphone for those times when I am away from a computer  and find myself either bored and or wanting to casually browse the net or read my email.  It also came preloaded with 100 copyright free books, good classics all.

Paired with Calibre, a donation supported piece of software that converts file types and does oh so much more, library management is a breeze. If I want to take a walk on the wild side, I could (theoretically, of course) use a small python script to convert Kindle's locked down DRM laden books into nekkid ePub files and read them on my Kobo.

It's not perfect, of course. No 1.0 device ever is, but it does the trick. I have learned the ins and outs of converting file formats, found great sources of free (and legal) books, and successfully retrained myself so that I slow down to the rate at which I read analog books, rather than the rapid scanning that I generally do when reading on-line.

In any case, I have had my Kobo since Tuesday morning. It made a big enough hit at The House of Noodles, that RW bought one, too.  He bought the black one, of course. After all, he is a manly man.