Honolulu Weekly

The Kindle has been the king of electronic readers for the past couple of years. Its users have been able to wirelessly download digital copies of their favorite publications and enjoy them on the Kindle’s “e-ink” screen that purports to eliminate the strains associated with reading on LCD or other types of computer displays. And while the blogging community deemed the Kindle the “iPod of books,” Barnes & Noble was hard at work developing a competing model.

Here comes the Nook, an e-book reader with a similar “e-ink” display and an extra touch screen display on the bottom that resembles a tiny iPhone. Users can navigate through their books using the full color bottom screen, connect wirelessly without additional charges (much like the Kindle), lend books to other Nook users, and for a price ($259) that actually caused Amazon to reduce the price of their Kindle (now also $259, down from $299 in October).

While the “lend” feature would seem to be the Nook’s biggest feature enhancement over the Kindle, it comes with some restrictions. Users can only lend their books out for a 14-day period during which the original owner can’t access the book. This adds a hint of realism to the feature as well as acknowledges the susceptibility of the industry to media pirating.

Yeah, yeah, most of us are still reading regular books. But if you’re ready to take a leap into the future, and want to get all your reads in one place–hold off on the Kindle, and wait just a little longer to get the full story from those who have read from the Nook in their favorite reading nook.