E-Book Wars, Part I: Kindle v. Nook v. Kobo

Friends, I was once like you. I loved physical books, especially hardcovers. Pulling out a 500-page tome always made me feel smart.

But those suckers are heavy. And if I were near the end of one book I'd have to pack another so as not to have to sit on the subway stupidly twiddling my thumbs, avoiding eye-contact with my fellow commuters and staring at the ads, further weighing down my backpack. And if I felt like reading something other than the book I was carrying, I was SOL. I could read only what I was willing carry to carry, which wasn't much.

Plus, I could only read for as long as my arms could support a heavy hardcover. If the print was too small, I had to grin and squint it. Since I'm not Charles Atlas, I wasn't willing to carry a dictionary (or an atlas), so unfamiliar words remained unfamiliar.

E-readers solve all these problems. If you love to read, you will LOVE an e-reader.

Convinced? Good.

Now, here's what you need to know about e-readers before you choose one.

Kindle, Nook or Kobo?

There are dozens of e-book reader models to choose from, but right now only three matter: Amazon's ad-supported Kindle 3 ($114), the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch Reader ($139) and the Kobo eReader Touch ($129). This week in this four-part series, I'll compare and contrast each, and offer my recommendations.

Today I've covered some e-reader basics – the technology and how the e-book ecosystem works. Tomorrow we'll be discussing the comparative physical characteristics of the Kindle, Nook and Kobo e-readers. Wednesday we'll look at the comparative shopping experience of the three, on Thursday the actual reading experience.

All e-readers use similar technologies. Kindle, Nook and Kobo – in fact, most e-readers – employ a 6-inch (diagonal) E-Ink screen. E-Ink is both the name of the company that makes these screens and the name of the screen technology, also known as e-paper.

E-Ink is not LCD, it's a completely unique technology. E-Ink screens are not self-illuminated (i.e. no backlighting). If it's light, you can read. If it's dark, you can't. Just like a real book.

E-Ink technology works similarly to an Etch A Sketch – particles are manipulated to stick to the underside of a screen. Sophisticated software and electronics allow these "ink" particles to form the correct letters. Power is used only when you "turn the page" – when the "ink" particles are rearranged to form new letters. Theoretically, you could read a dozen books without recharging the battery.

E-readers are equipped with a standard microUSB jack, which means it can be charged with their included charges or most any cell phone charger.

Kindle, Nook and Kobo – and most e-readers – connect to the Internet via built-in Wi-Fi, so you can shop at the Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo online e-book stores. Wi-Fi, however, will sap battery power, so it's best to turn off the e-reader's Wi-Fi to conserve battery power until you're ready to shop.

Smart digital reading

E-book advantages are more than physical. E-books offer two huge reading pluses I alluded to a few paragraphs ago.

Since they are digital, you are not restricted to how an e-book is laid out. You can change the size of the type and the style of the type; depending on the e-reader, you also can adjust the line spacing, width (margins), and justification. I'll have more on the options Kindle, Nook and Kobo offer in Part IV.

All e-readers also offer built-in dictionaries – you don't have to be connected to the internet to access them. You also can highlight passages, create digital bookmarks, and some e-readers even let you make notes in their digital margins.

A growing number of e-books also let you borrow books from other owners of your brand of e-reader or from the library, as well as lend books. Barnes & Noble has been promoting its Nook "social" reading capabilities – to create your own Nook book club. Most e-readers also offer access to magazines and newspapers.

When you switch to e-books, you're not restricted to reading on an e-book e-reader. There are free Kindle, Nook and Kobo e-reader apps for both Android smart phones and tablets as well as iPhone and iPad. So even if you leave your e-reader home (accidentally or on purpose), you can still read. (what are the differences between reading on a tablet and an e-reader? That's a whole 'nother story.)

Unfortunately, as of this week, the Apple Kindle, Nook and Kobo iPhone/iPad apps no longer let you shop on their respective online stores from within the app (it's a long story). If you're already an e-book owner and you like shopping for e-books, don't update your e-reader app.

If you leave the Wi-Fi connection on on your e-reader, all three smart phone apps know how far you've read on whatever e-reader you've been reading on, and vice versa.

E-book no-nos

Switching to a Kindle, Nook or Kobo e-reader does have its drawbacks compared to real books.

The first disadvantage is obvious – the annoying E-Ink gray-green screen. E-book reading isn't quite black-on-white, so your eyes will have to get used to the duller, flatter reading experience.

Because e-books aren't color (but may soon be), photos don't look so hot –like old, faded black-and-white photos.

But those who have switched from real books to e-books know the advantages outweigh these drawbacks. I posit you will as well.