Home Grown

Archive for the ‘eBooks’ Category

While I have been under the weather and doing much of nothing it has given me the chance to not only slow down but tinker around with my BlackBerry Storm. Since getting the smartphone I have had a love-hate relationship with it. Loving to hate it! Seriously, I contemplated several times exchanging it during the 30 day trial period. I didn’t. I almost did. I sort of bucked up and said to myself that I chose it and now I had to keep it like it or not. I fully expected to remain in the NOT catagory for a long time.

That is until I began investigating applications for it. I can Twitter with TwitterBerry. I can Facebook and use the BlackBerry for Facebook application. I can surf the net to find things when I am out and away from the house. I have my phonebook at my fingertips. I have music on the ready. Not to mention navigation systems w00t! for Google’s new FREE navigation utility! google mobile), Word and other document capabilities. A camera and a video camera.

Trying to list all the things I use it for in any given day is almost impossible. I am also guilty of taking for granted all the things I can do from my phone. From my phone. Do you realize what that means?

As a kid I would dream up all the cool things I wish I could do and now I can do those things. Not on a giant box but on my phone. My cell phone. A tiny device I can hold in the palm of my hand. I am still fascinated daily by modern technology.

While being under the weather I discovered Barnes & Noble’s eBook reader and eReader.com application. I was skeptic because I am considering an electronic book reader as tops on my Christmas list.

Side note here: I remain skeptical about the Kindle and the flaws I see with it and the proprietary way Amazon is trying to run things. It has left a bitter taste on my tongue and the Kindle is no longer holding a position high on my list. I don’t trust Sony either. I think I am falling in love with B&N’s Nook. This may be the item that tops my Christmas wish list.

Ahhhemmm. Where was I?

So, I downloaded not one but two book readers. As cheap as I am I searched through the free books on both sites and selected a couple of books for download. I started using some of the down time while waiting for Steven and Gracie at karate and dance classes to read. Gracie finishes homework while we wait for Steven and I read on my Blackberry. Steve watches a DVD while we wait for Gracie and I read.

I read books.

On my BlackBerry.

The text quality is far better than I ever imagined. The navigation is too easy – just a thumb press and the next page is instantly available. It really passes the time! Some evenings it seems as if I just got started and the entire hour is gone in a flash.

Now, don’t get me wrong. eBooks will never replace the real thing. There are some books that you must hold in your hands, inhale the scent of paper and run your fingers over the text. There are also books that you read once and move on and never look back. Not to mention the ones you have to force yourself to finish. Even a few that you never finish. Those are the once that get given away, donated to Goodwill, and sometimes tossed int he recycle bin.

One of my greatest weaknesses is old books. Something about old paper when you open you open the cover is like magic to me. It makes my stomach tingle and my fingers itch in anticipation of what I will discover as I make my way through the landscape of pages.

So, while I spent so much time hating my BB I am discovering that the more I use it, the more I discover what it is capable of, the more I stop trying to find ways to hate it I am actually learning to love it.

What?

What did you ask?

What am I reading on my Blackberry?

Well, right now, I have a free ebook from Barnes and Noble.

I wish I could tell you it was a classic novel or something educational. It’s not.

It’s a trashy romance novel.

** Morning update **

Steve woke up to burst pipes in the cellar at 3am. I had to find and emergency plumber. If it isn’t one thing its another. That chaching you hear is the sound of my Christmas budget quickly shrinking. Steve has a must-be-at-work kind of day today and he could only do so much before he had to go. :-/