Back in the day before smartphones, tablets, and e-readers you could purchase a wide variety of books from Barnes & Noble from the classics taught to us in school to sci-fi, fantasy, self-Help books and so much more. And if they didn't have the book you were looking for you could order it on the spot and have it delivered or pick it up from the store. If you didn't want to wait, you could always check out their leading competitor at the time, Borders, and they would usually have the book you were looking for. Then in 2007 Amazon came out with it's very own e-reader, the Kindle. Barnes & Noble came out with it's own e-reader, the Nook, in 2010. From there, purchasing and reading books would never be the same.
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| B&N Nook 1st Edition (right); Amazon Kindle 1st Edition (left) |
Now you could buy books comfortably anywhere that had Wi-Fi access and be able to read any of the books you purchased anywhere. And the best part (besides not having to lug around alotta books for us fast readers), e-books are usually a couple dollars cheaper than both the paperback and hardcover versions of the books--and occasionally there are sales and deals the e-books that normally don't happen to a physical version of the book until it's been out and published for quite some time. But, then a new problem arose.
Some books and author's were only available on Nook or vice versa, and Amazon would have sales and discounts on their books. Then the ultimate problem: what if you forgot your Nook? You were just out of luck--until both Barnes & Noble and Amazon decided to put the same information and capabilities of your e-reader into a convenient app that could be accessed on any smart device like the Nook mobile app and Amazon Kindle mobile app.
Provided as a free download in Android's Play Store and Apple's iTunes store all that is needed to start reading your (already purchased books) is to log into your respective B&N/Amazon account and download the book you want to read.
You can Buy books on any smart device
Once logged into your account, you can purchase books on any of your smart devices. It is worthwhile to note that the Nook only allows you to store one payment method, whereas the Kindle allows multiple stored payment methods via your Amazon account. When purchased, your book is downloaded and available immediately for you to read.
Books saved in the Cloud
Unlike the earlier generation Nook and Kindle readers, memory space for both e-readers now function in the Cloud--mostly so that your hundreds of books don't inhibit you from buying and reading more books (trust me, I had to keep buying bigger micro SD cards with my gen 1 Nook to contain my entire book collection.) However, one downside of the Cloud functionality is that you have to have access to Wi-Fi and/or data on your smart device, which can be difficult sometimes if you're out somewhere where neither of those are available but you really want to read a certain book. Likewise, the books you download do take up some space on your smart device which does add up over time.
You can Customize the display of your book
Both the Nook and Kindle apps provide options for you to change the background color of the book, the font type and size, as well as line-spacing and margins of the book. While not as many options are provided as with the actual Nook or Kindle devices, one added feature is that you can change the brightness of the book you are reading which is handy depending on where and what time of day you are reading.
Share your reading activity on Social Media
You can also share the book you are reading on a variety of Social Media options from the apps to post and talk about it, as well as share it with your friends. This is useful for reading groups, or for getting the word out about a really good book, as well as advertising for the author.
Deals online for e-books on Nook & Kindle
Best part about e-books is the tendency for e-books to go on sale and/or be on promotion, as well as new and upcoming authors who are providing their books for free. With the advent of publishing online and through e-books vs. actual print, it's easier than ever to discover new authors (as well as to become a new author yourself.)
One site I use frequently for deals on e-books across the Nook and Kindle platforms is Bookbubs. It's completely free to sign up for, and similar to how Barnes & Noble and Amazon asked you to pick a whole bunch of books you liked across different genres so they could cater their suggestions specifically to you and your reading habits when you created your account, Bookbubs has you pick out favorite books and genres, and they will send you a daily e-mail of suggested books that are on sale or free and they will tell you which platform the book is available on--Nook, Kindle, and even Google Play Books.
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And to help convert you to being an e-reader, these video's help highlight some of the reasons, questions, and even functionality and practicality about an e-book vs. an actual book. I used to be one of those people that would only read an actual book until 3 things happened:
1. Books are expensive and its tedious to get to the bookstore when you read so fast
2. I got attacked by my bookcase trying to get a singular book free
3. I lost the use of my left arm for a year and half and it's pretty hard turning pages one-handed or always keeping your book on a flat surface
Then I realized the beauty of an e-reader containing all of my books, being able to buy them anywhere, and only carry around a lightweight device like my phone. Not only could I read at any moment, but I found myself reading more and more books and branching out to new authors and genres. Especially when the mobile app version became available. I still carry around my gen 2 nook for practicality and battery life over my phone, but when I'm in a boring situation with nothing but my phone, I can pick up right where I left off in my amazing book and be happy--and no extra lugging around a book required!
The Real Reason you should buy an e-reader
E-book vs. Physical Book
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