During the first week of class it seems like the entire school is standing in line outside the Barnes and Noble Bookstore to pick up their books for class.
Most ordered online, but those who didn’t are lost meandering the aisles attempting to find a used copy of Persepolis in order to save three or four dollars.
Imagine, though, that we didn’t have to worry about all of this. Instead, we log on to SpartanWeb during the summer, look at our schedule and, instead of ordering tangible textbooks, log onto our favorite e-bookstore and purchase all our
required texts, which are immediately downloaded to our eReader.
Since about the turn of the century, the use of eReaders and e-bookstores have skyrocketed as people have lost the need for tangible objects.
Instead we can log on to our favorite Internet based store and our purchases are immediately downloaded to our computer or other device.
While there are hundreds of devices in the eReading market, five stand out as majority shareholders, each with its own online bookstore.
The Amazon Kindle, Border’s Kobo, Sony Reader Touch, the Barnes and Noble Nook and the Apple iPad, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
The Amazon Kindle (WiFi $139, Free 3G + WiFI $189) has become Amazon’s best selling product over the past two years and according to PC Magazine is “the best dedicated e-book reader you can buy ….”
The Kindle store has over 670,000 titles and hundreds of newspapers from around the globe available for download over Amazon’s Whispersync (their 3G download network).
The Border’s Kobo is priced at $130 dollars and lacks the 3G and Wifi connectivity that most other eReaders include.
With 1GB of on device memory, the Kobo can hold 1,000 titles and is expandable via SD memory card to hold more books or photos.
Border’s also has an online bookstore with titles starting at $5.99.
The Sony Reader Touch is $230 dollars and is a touch screen device unlike other eReaders: it provides a more tactile experience and can also be used for note taking.
Again this device lacks wireless connectivity and can hold 1,200 books (also expandable via SD or Memory Stick cards).
The Barnes and Noble Nook (Wifi $149, 3G + Wifi $199) is more unique compared to the other eReaders.
Not only does the Nook have a 6-inch touch screen like other devices, it also has a 3.5-inch color touch screen that acts as an online keyboard making searching for books on an e-bookstore a breeze.
The Nook will hold up to 1,500 books and like the other devices can be expanded to hold even more.
The newest to the market is the Apple iPad (starting at $499 for a Wifi model or $629 for a 3G + Wifi version).
Apple has created the iBook store which makes reading books on the iPad just as fast and simple as the others.
The iPad can also double as an Internet tablet device, mobile song player, movie viewer and small computer.
Other companies such as Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Border’s have also created apps for the iPad which makes having multiple e-bookstore accounts a snap (also great for finding the cheapest book and saving a little money).
A quick bit of research on Barnes and Noble’s University of Tampa page showed some interesting numbers.
After some work it was possible to find a book available from “Nook Study,” the textbook download section of Barnes and Noble’s bookstore.
Ceremony, required for Great Books (ENG125), is available for $16 new, $12 used or $12.99 on instant Nook download.
Comparable in price, but without the need to carry around heavy books, a user can instead hold a small device in the palm of their hand that can double for other uses.
Most students around UT were hesitant when asked about eReaders and their opinions on them.
Joanne Yam, a junior, says, “I don’t know much about them, but I heard they weren’t that great.” Megan Ristic, a freshman, said, “I feel like most of my classes require having a big textbook, imagine biology without having a real book in front
of you. I can’t imagine it!”
PK Creedon, a freshman attending the Roehampton study abroad trip said, “I can’t really picture myself using one. I like to read an actual book, ya know?”
Morgan Decker, a freshman, is ready to jump on the bandwagon, “I want one! They’re so cool and I like to read.”
Twenty years ago having a cell phone was only for the super rich, and even then they weren’t popular.
TVs have changed immensely over just the past four to five years, and they are still working on making them slimmer and even more advanced.
While still in its early years the eReader, just like every other piece of mass produced technology in the world, is destined to be changed, made more consumer friendly and drop enough in price for it to be a common-day object in every one’s
household.
Universities around the country have already introduced devices into their everyday lectures and classes, so the days of no one having an eReader are numbered, just like the pre-everyone-has-a-cell-phone era.
It’s now only a matter of time before the eReader is the next big device of the holiday season.
Todd Sanborn can be reached at toddalan@me.com.