eReader Choices and Decisions
There is a good post over at Tinfoil + Raccoon about ereaders and libraries. I found it ironic that both Rochelle and I both had conversations with sales staff at Barnes and Noble about the Nook and libraries. I went in to check out the Nook Color because I was curious what it was like and how it compared to my old school Nook. Rochelle and I live in completely different library districts and this makes a big difference in terms of what is available. I feel very privileged because HCPL has IMHO lots of good ebooks available. I have friends who don’t get nearly as much in the public library’s Overdrive collection.
Post-holidays there have been lots of people talking about the ereader they got and which they prefer on Twitter. I had relatives ask me about my Nook and why I bought over a Kindle or and iPad. Which should they get they asked me. The answer to that question isn’t simple and definitely various from person to person. For me there is a set of questions checklist that I use to help folks figure out what they want.
- What kind of stuff do you read? (Fiction books, Non-fiction books, magazines)
- If you read non-fiction do you highlight stuff when you read?
- Do you want to borrow books from the public library? If so, have you checked out the size of the collection your library has. After looking at the size, do you still want to borrow books?
- Do you want to be able to buy books whenever, where-ever in the US?
- Do you care who you buy your books from? ie. does it bother you to be forced to buy stuff from a single vendor?
- Do you think you might want to use other devices (in particular other ereaders to read your books in the future)
- Do you want to “loan” your ebooks?
- How many devices are you willing to carry around with you? (this question is all about is the person looking for a single function or multi-function device)
Some of these questions are pretty easy for people to answer. Others they are more difficult or never occurred to them to care about so it takes a little more digging and prompting. The bottom line is that you have to help people get the information they need in order to make good decisions.
Another couple of considereations:
Do you need color? Are your reading graphic novels, comics, magazines, journals, or textbooks that loose much if only in b&w?
Are you confortable downloading content from the internet, storing it in a program, and maybe changing file formats before loading it on your reader?
I too think Harris County Public is fantastic. We are lucky. Between them and Project Gutenberg there is very little I have had to purchase.
David,
Thanks for your comments. It is hard sometimes to get people to respond to “do you need color”. Asking the question in terms of what kind of stuff do they read “graphic novels, comics, magazines” and other things that lose too much in black and white is important.
I feel sort of lucky that my needs don’t require a color reader because I experience with reading on backlit screen wasn’t great. HCPL is great, librarian who buys ebooks is my new email friend as I’m constantly asking if they can get stuff.