Kobo Cabana!
I got me a Kobo! I’ve been reading up about them for a while, ever since Borders announced that they were selling them. Every time I’ve mentioned getting an electronic reader, I’ve just been told to get an iPad, but from what I’ve been reading,
- it’s actually more difficult to read with iBook (although there is Kobo and Kindle for iPad, ironically)
- trawling through your library of books gets hellish after a certain point
- the only ooh-aah factor is the page turning effect (“Just like a real book!”) and the backlight.
Which, for AUD1,200, is a rather extravagant spend for realistic page turns and a backlight.
Yes, yes… I know iPads can do so much more. But between the husband and I, we now have 1 netbook (17 months old), 1 duo-core laptop (3 years old) and 1 very new, very souped-up bespoke quod-core desktop, with a solid state drive that would make any teen gamer writhe in pimply envy. We have an iTouch but we’re still dragging our feet with iPhones. I’m not quite sure why. I suspect part of it stems from a general aversion to bandwagons, and casting our lot so readily with Apple – whom I’m sure harbour evil Microsoft-like plans for world domination underneath all that slick I’m-so-friendly packaging.
But I also like that you’re not just tied to Borders’ books, because it reads ePUB and PDF files. And that I can load electronic books from the library. Kindle doesn’t read PDF. That’s quite the deal breaker for me, frankly. Plus, Australia’s WiFi coverage is laughable, so getting anything WiFi-y at this stage would just be a waste of money better spent on books.
So it’s a Kobo for me. Cheap, does the job, comes with 100 free books. It’s like buying a cheap second car that comes with paid registration and a full tank of petrol. Sweet.
