I’ve changed my mind a hundred times on which e-reader to buy, that is once I decided I did want an e-reader. I love books, the feel and smell of them. I even like the feel of the weight in my hands, but not on my shoulders.
I just finished Conversations with Myself, a collection of papers, interviews, and letters from Nelson Mandela’s archive. At 480 pages, it is a hefty item to tote around on the crowded NYC subway to and from work. I looked around the car and saw everyone on their devices that slide easily in and our of their bags, no sign of trouble when flipping the page or holding it close to them as they navigated the too-small space between them and their closest neighbors.
I, on the other handle, was fumbling to such a degree that I just packed the book away in my overstuffed bag, where it barely fit. On my subway car, I was the only person with a paper book, a book I borrowed from he library! Despite that I make my living working in mobile technology, I was a relic of a time gone by. Books made out of paper? They call those antiques!
And now it was time to take a serious look at my decision tree. I have been comparing models of e-readers since the first Kindle was a whisper in the market. I took my friend, Susan‘s, advice from job searching and applied it to my e-reader decision. I stopped comparing models and considered my perfect e-reader, available options aside.
Here’s what I need, in order of importance:
1.) A comfortable reading experience – I spend so much of my day looking at shiny screens and I’m already worried about my eyes. I need a near-paper reading experience.
2.) Borrow library books – I love the New York Public Library and I’d like to be able to download e-books from the library to my e-reader.
3.) An electronic notepad – I do my best writing while I’m traveling and carrying my laptop with me is getting to be a burden. I don’t need anything too fancy – just a way to easily jot down my thoughts and upload them to my laptop when I get home.
Now that I knew what kind of e-reader I really wanted, it was easier to evaluate options. By getting clear on my needs, the clear answer rose to the top: meet my new e-reader, the new Kindle Touch, featuring e-ink, library book borrowing, and personal annotation capabilities (Kindle does one better on this last point by sinking all my documents across all of my devices.)
And this is just the beginning of what it offers. It will be ready to ship around November 21st and I can’t wait to get started on it. My shoulders are going to be so happy with this decision. Already I can hear them sighing, “It’s about time!” Indeed, it is.
Published by Christa Avampato
The short of it:
Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day.
The long of it:
My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events.
While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist.
My company:
I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media:
• I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference;
• I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable;
• I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me.
Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.
View all posts by Christa Avampato
I’ve changed my mind a hundred times on which e-reader to buy, that is once I decided I did want an e-reader. I love books, the feel and smell of them. I even like the feel of the weight in my hands, but not on my shoulders.
Christa Avampato 
Good information; my big issue is the “no glare” feature – that I believe both Nook and Kindle have addressed. The second is compatibility – but don’t think that will be resolved between the two anytime soon. I am thinking Kindle for the carry around, and I already have Nook on my computer for home reading. Did you get a b/w or color version?
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Kindle definitely has the best reading experience because there is no backlight. Amazon did a lot of research into e-ink to create the very best reading experience possible, and the closest to reading on paper so that eye fatigue would be kept at bay. I can’t imagine the two devices ever being compatible. They’re huge rivals in every way. Kindle does have an app for your home computer and phone, as does Nook, though the big thing for me is that e-ink. It totally won me over. I got a a b/w version. The color version (Kindle Fire) doesn’t have e-ink and it has a backlight – too much eye strain for me!
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I’m thinking about Kindle also even though I’m a big paper person, in part because of the same type of commuting logistics w/ books and the small screen on the itouch. I love my ipad but it’s heavy, I’m leery of taking it on a commute, and I actually like the Kindle app a little better for reading. Not sure I’d go w/ the Fire tho – have to investigate the screen and how I react – more like ipad or kindle? One advantage of Kindle is that (from what I’ve read) people seem to react to its light in a less disruptive manner than w/ an ipad/laptop – I’m finding if I’m not off my laptop even w/ a dim screen around 8, I have trouble falling asleep on time as the light disrupts my circadian. TV or reading a book isn’t a problem so I think the regular Kindle might be better for me. So thrilled that more libraries are making ebooks available. And I love how the Kindle app syncs purchases across devices (not samples tho) so I can read on my itouch at work and my ipad at home seamlessly. Glad they’ve reduced weight so much, my brother-in-law has a 1stgen and I was surprised at the weight (pre ipad!) and annoyed at the page refresh. OTOH, the one thing that they’ve improved but not eliminated is the e-ink page turn/refresh that I think I might find annoying b/c i’m a fairly fast reader. The Kindle app and the Ibook are better for that. I might have to buy one and try it, returning if it doesn’t work for me. Then there’s ad/no-ad and wifi only or 3G.
Guess it’s just a matter of figuring out my decision tree. 🙂 Hope you enjoy yours, you can try it out over Thanksgiving and post your thoughts!
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Hi MJ – the Kindle Fire really is more like the iPad. No e-ink and it has a backlight which causes eye fatigue like a computer. A computer will absolutely mess with your sleep. A backlit screen actually keeps your brain stimulated and doesn’t allow it to relax into sleep mode. It takes a bit of time to come down after you shut the screen down. I think the page turn has been improved greatly from the original model and it is super light! I went for just wi-fi as I found out that the 3G doesn’t let you fully surf the web, but just download books everywhere. For me, I can just download the books at home or in a wi-fi area 🙂
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I wasn’t aware that Kindle had added epub compatibility for Google Books and library book borrowing. I don’t think the early models had that. Good to know.
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Hi Peter – IThe Kindles now support: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced(AA,AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion. I believe you can convert epub to MOBI. I’ve noticed in the NYPL catalogs, there is an option to get a Kindle ebook or an epub format so my guess is that it doesn’t yet support epub.
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Ah, ok. I just started using my Sony eReader with the Brooklyn Public Library, which uses epub. I’m not sure if they’ve started supporting Kindle yet, but I wouldn’t have been looking for it anyway, so it’s just as likely that I have missed it.
The Sony (a model from a few years back) has the e-ink functionality and does the job, despite not being as tricked out as the Kindles and Nooks. It was a godsend on my latest trip. I won’t use it to 100% replace physical books, but it’s nice to have, especially for library usage. For some reason, I don’t feel as comfortable having a book I love exclusively in a digital format.
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