Kindle Fire Vs. Nook Color

 

Never say never.

Well, I guess technically I didn't say I would NEVER buy an e-reader but that I would NEVER give up books (I WON'T.  Not ever!) and that I couldn't JUSTIFY the purchase of one.

I almost could justify the middle-of-the-road Kindle...the hundred dollar one...until I saw them and realized that they are just so, well, GREY.

The grey is dull, isn't it?  Maybe there are ways to change the color to white so it would, oh I don't know, pop a little more, but:  1) I didn't wait around long enough to find out because the idea of the greyness was kinda depressing; 2) I am convinced that the two Kindles (that aren't the Fire) are only operating in a dull, lackluster, kill-me-now grey...and I don't really want to be told otherwise, because:

I spotted a Kindle Fire and the Nook Color and they are wonderful in a skip through the daisies and hold onto the rainbow kind of way.

Oh. My. Gawd.

I want one.

Sigh.

Want.

I still can't justify the two hundred+ price tag.  But, they are soooo pretty.  And COLORFUL and UN-GREY.  And colorful, did I say that?

Oh sure you can play games and check Facebook but I also have a smart phone that'll do that too so that isn't necessarily the big draw for me.  Books, however, be still my colorful, riding the rainbow heart.

Books with colorful covers and a white screen.

What?  You all have known all this and I am seriously years behind the eight ball?

Okay, you're right.  And I will be the one with an Iphone in 2015 announcing what a marvelous little contraption this is.  Shut it.

Anyway.

I needed (yes, needed!) to figure out a way to justify one of these handy dandy Kindle Fire's.  So, I thought about it...

What could I use this for?  I mean, other than regular ole books because I'm sorry but I don't travel ENOUGH to really justify a Kindle and I LOVE BOOK-BOOKS.  I love the pages and the smell of a new book and flipping pages and holding a BOOK in my hands and reading the back cover and...all of it.  So, I needed a reason to spend a couple hundred dollars on something that I wasn't going to use exclusively.

Bingo.

An idea.

Well, a justification.

Remember a few months back when I discussed the Gettysburg project? If you have forgotten I am basically going to study for a test (of course the test happens to take place IN Gettysburg and I realize I WAS a mere hundred miles FROM Gettysburg and now I am 2500 miles away, but, let's not split hairs here) and that would require a minimum of one year, most likely two years of study and OVER 77 books on the subject (I know, 77+ books on three days.  Wow!).

DING! DING! DING! JUSTIFICATION! DING!

If I had to BUY all those books I would be looking at well over a thousand dollars (and as Larry would say, "yeah, but that would be one hell of a library...shit, don't say that!).  If I didn't buy them I would be forced to take them out of the library, unfortunately many of the listed books are not even available at my library (big surprise. Boise, folks) and not even available for inter-library loan. The other problem with a library book is I can't highlight, can't go back to the book later down the road, and I have a time constraint. 

So........

I could download those non-fiction books for a fraction of the cost. Sure, I won't have a ton on my shelves but I will most likely BUY in good old fashioned BOOK FORM a handful of my most favorite books...so I can have somewhat of a "library" too (for those that don't know: that was me justifying the comment Larry said about having an ACTUAL library.  See how I can spin things?).  I believe that would be my cake and eating it too.

Since I will be using this for my Gettysburg study I felt the COLOR version would be better because I could HIGHLIGHT passages...in color, yo!  I also like the idea of being able to click from book to book to cross reference and check facts against other facts...okay, that doesn't necessarily require a color version but I, well, I don't like grey and I want to highlight in color...did I mention that already?  Oh.  The color is just so pretty and bright and colorful!

The downside (more of a minor snag): I will need to make index cards for notes either way but I will need to eventually have a book with photographs because I will need to study and memorize every single key figure that walked those fields of Gettysburg (way beyond Lee) and I am not sure how I will manage that on a Kindle or Nook...but, I can always figure that out later.

Lastly, I think the Nooks are kinda cool too but I am leaning towards Kindle because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Amazon.  Any thoughts you readers have about either one?  Please share.

Comments

[corinna]

ok, I say... justification well done.
Go for it... do it! do it! do it!!!
Come to the dark side...................

[Maria]

I too have been contemplating buying one or the other. I don't even read. My mom has one of the old kindles, they are indeed very grey, but I hear easier to read because of the matte grey. But like yourself I love color too. I was leaning toward the Kindle Fire after research I did. Each have their pros and cons. It' really up to the individual to decide.