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Andy Ihnatko on e-book readers as last-minute Christmas gifts
December 20, 2009 | 7:45 am
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By Chris Meadows
Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times has a guide for the perfect last-minute Christmas gift: e-book readers, which he calls “the Zhu Zhu Pet of last-minute tech gift shopping.”
Ihnatko covers the Sony Reader Pocket Edition, the iPod Touch, the Kindle 2 (which he calls “the iPod of ebook readers”), and the Nook (which didn’t impress him).
Of course, there are plenty of readers out there that Ihnatko does not mention, but he seemed to be focusing on the major market share holders for the purposes of this column.
2009 really is shaping up to be the year of the e-book reader. Can’t wait to see what 2010 has in store!
Technorati Tags: Sony Reader,Pocket Edition,Sony Reader Pocket Edition,iPod Touch,Nook,Kindle,iPod Andy Ihnatko
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Comments:
I wouldn’t buy someone a dedicated e-book reader, unless they’d specifically asked for one of them… and I mean a particular one, not just any reader.
Why? Andy’s concentrated on the number of devices, but I’d be more concerned about the sources of books available to them. Too many of the major sources of e-books are available for only one device, and I wouldn’t want to have a recipient of a reader suddenly fretting that they couldn’t get the book they wanted at the e-book store they preferred (or that was the only one with that book).
And as far as the devices are concerned, people seem to be very particular about the devices they do and do not like, how they work, how they look, etc. (Remember, just because you like it doesn’t mean they will.) I wouldn’t want to gift someone with a device that would be awkward, appear ugly to them or cause eyestrain.
In short, I’d probably wait until next Christmas, because by then, they would have probably seen a few devices, know about the stores, and have made a choice about which they’d prefer. Or maybe I’d be more confident I could choose the best choice for them. This year? Give ‘em a nice bottle of scotch.