Tuesday, May 15, 2012

eBooks aGlow

Last week, Barnes & Noble released this (although it is actually out of stock – predictable for any new piece of tech):

NookGlowLight

The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, which is apparently the “Only Reader designed for perfect bedtime reading”. In a cheeky move, they also released this graphic, explaining why “Nook is better than Kindle”:

NookKindleComparison

To be honest, this is less than convincing for me – I don’t need a light for my Kindle, admittedly, and have never thought to buy one.

Predictably, Amazon have now announced they “will launch new versions of its Kindle e-reader and tablet, including a monochrome e-reader with front lighting”, and apparently Amazon “is aiming to have the new e-reader in stores in July” (Reuters). It never fails to amaze me how quickly they’re able to bring these new models to market.

Apparently, while the Kindle has been extremely popular (I love mine, FYI), people “have had to buy an external light to attach to the device to read in the dark. The front light eliminates that problem”… Personally, I see this as a pretty strange complaint about Kindles – you would need a light to read a book, too, after all. It’s not the greatest imposition.

What do you think about eReaders with GlowLights or screen lights?

4 comments:

  1. I don't need a glowlight or screen light, frankly.

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  2. Sometimes when there's little light think screen lights may come in handy on say my Sony Reader. Although like Paul said doing fine without it!

    Although the seperate light for an eReader seem to be pricey so guessing perhaps people want Glowlights attached so that problem is just eliminated.

    Although you have a point even regular print books need screen lights.
    We readers want every little tick attended, maybe:)

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  3. I've never found myself needing a light for my Kindle - you can't read it in the dark, true, but you can't read a book in the dark either, so . . .

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  4. I don't get the appeal. Books need light. This has been the standard since... well, since the invention of the printed word. Book lights are clumsy and unreliable - I'd much rather use a lamp either way (my Sony does great with my bedside light... also with plane lights, ceiling lights, sunshine, any kind of lighting that works for print...). Though I do think it's just a gimmick, some people seem to find it a convenient addition. To me, it just seems like a drain on battery life.

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