Thursday, October 22, 2009

Why I want to hate the Nook


The "Nook" is the new e-reader that Barnes and Noble announced yesterday. I am an avid reader, I LOVE to read. I love the feel of the paper. I love to look at the cover illustration and I get a satisfactory feeling knowing I have completed an 800 page novel. I love to go to the bookstore and browse. I've always been this way since a youngster. I get frustrated that I am only able to read so much. So many books will be left unread because of time.

So why do I want to hate it? Because it threatens to take this experience away from me. At the same time, I am fascinated by the possibilities.

What I like about it:

It's powered by Android.

This is Google operating system that has found its way onto phones and now on the Nook. I dumped my iPhone months ago and have been using the MyTouch 3g with T-Mobile which also runs on Android.. I love it! I live on Google Apps such as mail, calendar, etc, and this phone integrates nicely with all these apps. I find the phone more useful than my iPhone. Android is also open source. I'm sure there will be apps that will connect my phone to the Nook.

It has WiFi

You can connect to the e-book store from home and when you can go to any Barnes and Noble you will also connect for free AND read any e-book for free while you are in the store. This means that you can read a few pages of any ebook first to see if you like it prior to purchase.

Dual Screens

It has a cool color touch screen on the bottom used for navigation.

So there you have it. Of course the ebook reader has been around for a while - Sony and Amazon have it. But they look ugly and they have not appealed to me until now with the Nook. The Nook has more features that make it worthwhile I think. Plus you will have access to thousands of more books.

Will I enjoy this new reading experience? Time will tell. There's always Ebay and Craigslist. I want to hate it but I can't. Everything is going digital. I have to adapt.

How do you feel about this?

Check out the below video for a preview of the Nook:



So what the heck is Aztlan?


Legend has it that Aztlan is the birth place of the Aztecs - where they originally came from. No, this will not be a blog about that. You can Google this and read up if you are interested. But personally I have always been fascinated by this story. A story that might be myth but nevertheless has always inspired me in many ways. A story I will never forget. A history that I know I am a part of.

Why I chose to name this blog, "Aztlan"? I have no idea. Maybe as I write more I will figure it out.

In the meantime, I wanted a place to write and vent about anything I chose.

- Robert