I just preordered my Kobo eReader!!!
Yes, I know the exclamation marks are excessive, but I don’t care! If I were posting this on a forum somewhere I’d be including happy, bouncy smilies with that sentence. Look, isn’t it pretty?
Okay, I know there are a lot of naysayers out there who love to point out that the Kobo eReader doesn’t have wireless capability (it does have Bluetooth for using with a smartphone). And it also doesn’t read .doc or .txt files. I don’t foresee myself needing that feature often, but if I do I can always convert the file to .pdf. I am pleased that Kobo chose to go with the more universal epub format.
And to everyone who thinks this eReader looks like a Fisher Price toy … I think the blue button is cute!
Let’s face facts. This eReader wasn’t designed for those who are willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a device with bells and whistles. There are already many very good eReaders on the market that can do all those extra things. No, Kobo obviously designed this device, and set the $149 price point, for people like me who balk at the idea of paying hundreds of dollars for a device just to read ebooks. I already have a laptop, a netbook, an iPod and a PDA (haven’t bothered with a smart phone since I almost never use the cell phone I already have) so I don’t need those bells and whistles. I just want a nice, cost-friendly, portable device on which to read my ebooks. I’ve been using my netbook, but the battery life on that thing is horrible. I’ve ordered a battery with a longer charge (9+ hours) and am waiting for it to arrive as I type this, but even then reading on a netbook will always be a bit of a hassle.
It’s obviously a very exciting time for ebooks (the shaky adoption of the agency model for setting prices notwithstanding.) The Kobo eReader is the perfect device for those of us who were standing on the sidelines wondering if we’d ever get the chance to jump into this new medium with both feet.
Now I just have to hang on until May when it will be released in Canada. (It will be released in the U.S. in June and will be available at Borders.)
