The Digital Lifestyle
Right now we are at a crossroads with our media. Over the past 50 years the way we consume and create content has changed. If we look back at how we watched movies this is a prime example. In the 1960′s we went movie theaters to watch shows. In 1982 we could watch movies at home with VHS tapes. In the 1990s we could watch movies that were no bigger than the size of a CD. Now we can just turn on our TVs and the movies are delivered right to the set either through our cable provider or an internet streaming company. With the rise of Netflix we ask ourselves how much physical media or discs do we need? If we can get the movie we want to see delivered to our door do we need to take up space with the plastic disc we will use on occasion? For most people the answer is no.
Of eReaders and iPads
Since the recent eReader price drop between the Nook and Kindle I figured they have hit the sweet spot in price range for me to look into one of them. I played around with a few co-workers Kindles, then I stopped by my local Barnes and Noble to test out their Nook. I found using a Kindle to be easier to navigate. I just felt that the Nook was slow and just difficult to use. The touch screen seems like a nice idea, but I found it to be slow. I decided that I was going to purchase a Kindle after July, that was until yesterday.
The deal a day website Woot! was offering Kindles at a very attractive price I jumped on one. I am excited to purchase an eReader and I purchased the best one available. While some on you may disagree that’s fine. I will be posting a review of my Kindle once I get time to play around with it.
Now before buying the Kindle I was torn between the e-ink readers and an iPad. Now the reason I was heavily considering the iPad is because of it’s support for full color PDF support. To me due to the price of the iPad it is a luxury, for what I want.
Now you must be saying why do you, Joseph, need to have full color pdf support? The answer is simple. Over the last few years I’ve been investing in PDF’s of rule books for a pencil and paper game called BattleTech. I also by the “dead tree” books also since they are portable and can be searched through. The iPad represents the ability to bring those books into the digital age and allow for better portability.
With electronic documents I can bring my whole library of gaming books with me and be able to search through them with keywords. I can make bookmarks to certain sections. This does come back to the iPad “saving” the print media, but it is another outlet to store our larger color electronic media. For me the extra features of the iPad aren’t why I would buy an iPad. After I read up on the keynote the first thing I thought of was that would be so awesome for gaming PDFs.
While it does look like the e-ink readers and the iPad are fighting for the same market share they are two different products. I would actually say they are complementary products to each other. While yes there are apps for the iPad to read your Nook/Kindle books on it that doesn’t mean it is the best option to do so. I like gadgets that help make my life “easier” for my hobbies, and tabletop gaming is a big hobby for me.
