If you’re unsure if you’ll like the screen, I recommend checking it out at a B&N – most have demos available now. Also, it’s a great time to get an ereader anyway – there’s a price war going on, yay! :)

When the nook came out I thought the thing looked awesome. Wicked awesome. In fact, I almost preordered one. Then I started thinking about the Kindle and how much I hate the DRM issues, the Kindle store lock-in, the weird PDF transfer, etc. And I started thinking about the iPhone and it’s screwy app store and why I don’t want an iPhone. And I started thinking about all the things non-Google (yes, I have a Google fetish) that I have used that have just disappointed. So I passed.

But the more I hear, the more I like (your blad (blog-ad? ok, so it doesn’t work) notwithstanding. So maybe I’ll get one. But it’s hard to justify.

The technology angle, ok, you have a point – sort of. Yes I have a Media Center, Wii, Laptop, etc around me a lot. But when I sit down to read all of that is off. I’m not trying to press a button on something or figure out an interface or working to determine whether my device is working the right way or whatever. Yes the nook is aimed at the average consumer, not the tech crowd, but you know my luck with this stuff. :/

And I really don’t spend a lot of money on books. For two reasons – once I’ve read a book I very rarely read it again, and two I hate storing books. They’re heavy to move and take up lots of space that I can dedicate to the DVDs. (LoL – another issue).

So this solves my storage issue, but what do I do with the plethora of books I’ve bought and can’t resell? Can I re-sell a nook book?

Don’t get me wrong – the nook works for you and you love it and that’s awesome. I’m just at a point where I’m evaluating if it’s right for me and I picked your blog to do it on. I just reread my previous commend and it came out sounding pissier than I meant. So, oops.

oh, and my local library doesn’t support ebook lending. :( Sad. Guess I should move to Atlanta, I hear your company is looking for your replacement now? ;)

As far as your specific objections, here are my (long) thoughts:

1) It’s true that a “real” book doesn’t need at battery at all, but honestly the battery life of the nook is so long that the issue is almost non-existent. It’s rated for 10 days of straight reading before needing to charge, and after using it for a while I easily believe it. Of course, if you do more intense things like go online and shop or play with the color LCD touchscreen that’s going to drain the battery more, but then you’re talking about doing things that a “real” book can’t do anyway, so it’s not really a comparison.

In my experience, with normal use including lots of reading, a fair amount of switching books or getting feeds, and a decent amount of shopping as well, I end up charging my nook about once every 5-7 days. That’s pretty darn good, especially since it doesn’t take long to charge and I can still read with it plugged in.

I would think that the only time it would matter what the battery life is would be times when you can’t get to an outlet. Plane trips or camping, would be my thought. And I’d say that the nook battery can make it through any of those, even assuming you can’t car charge.

2) Yes, I agree that the nook does cost more than never buying any books. Sure, that would make sense. However, I would argue that 500,000+ books + library ebooks + instant access wherever you go = a very well worth it few hundred dollars. And then if you do happen to be the sort of person who has a book budget, you’ll find it goes a lot further every month.

3) Ok, if you really don’t want technology around you, I guess I can’t argue with that…but out of curiosity, are you saying you don’t have game systems, dvd players, stereos or television at home? How about phones? No home computers?

It’s only “technology” until it’s a part of accepted culture. It’s a good bet that if you start using it to read, you’ll soon stop thinking of it as technology. You’ll stop thinking of it at all, in fact, and just enjoy the book. Of course, again I realize it may not be the preferred format for all people – but don’t condemn it just because it has buttons, lol.

And the rest…

- Even if you don’t physically go to the bookstore, you’re having to go online (using technology!), wait for however many business days to get it and probably pay for shipping. I press a few buttons, pay 0 shipping and get it instantly, even in the middle of the night.

- The “$10 book” you tend to see advertised refers to best sellers, where the “real” book will cost maybe $29 or more. Prices drop just like anything else – ie I have yet to buy or even see on B&N any ebook that wasn’t less money than the paperback, usually much less. And of course for classics, you’re looking at $6 paperback versus $0 Google Book.

- The remaining three issues are exactly the reasons why I never bought a Kindle. One of the reasons I started looking at the nook is that it fixes all of that by using the epub format with minimal DRM. I can copy my books onto my computer, back them up on disk and redownload any of the them from the store if I have to. I’m at much, much less risk of losing my ebook that I am of my cat knocking a glass of water onto my beloved paperback.

Since I can save my files wherever I want, it’s no big deal even if B&N were to delete my book from their servers – I’d still have it. (there’s no sign of such a Kindle-like “backdoor” on the nook, which is after all built on Android, but even if there were I still have them backed up elsewhere)

And epub is an open format, so if I decide to ditch my nook down the line for something else new, I’ll have no problems switching – even if a new format has come out I should be able to convert my files to something that will work fine. If you look at the ereader market, right now everything but the Kindle reads epub already, and the Kindle still reads PDF so I can even bring my books over to that if I wanted.

So that’s why I ended up buying one. Preachy enough for ‘ya? :)

1) Longer battery life. — I never have to worry about my book’s battery dying.

2) Low startup cost — yes, books are cheaper through the nook, but they are free (via my tax money, yes) through the library and still look amazing in direct sunlight.

oh, and maybe a third: I don’t want technology around me when I’m at home. I’m surrounded by it at work. Hm. Maybe I’m not really a geek after all.

FWIW – I haven’t been inside a bookstore in years thanks to the wonders of half.com, amazon, the library, and paperbackswap. You paid $10 for your ebook version? I paid $10 for my paper / hardback version and never have to worry about file corruption, incompatibilities with a reader, or some over worrying publisher deciding to pull the book off my shelf (a la 1984 on the Kindle).

And I’m going to stop now before I get any more preachy than I already have. :D