Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Continued - BlackBerry as eBook Reader

Okay, while I'm still skeptical of the format (meaning, such a small screen and not a dedicated reading device such as the Amazon Kindle), so far I am liking the idea of my BB as an eBook reader for the simple reason that I *always* have my BB on me, and therefore have found opportunities to read where I would normally not have a book with me.

One thing that actually concerns me slightly (slightly mind you) is that it seems the OTA MobiPocket eBook store doesn't appear to work on T-Mobile's Curve, which is what I'm getting shortly to replace my Sprint Curve. My best friend has the T-Mobile Curve and could not get it to work (and it's documented on MobiPocket's support forum as well as other various posts on the web that this is a problem). He also has a Sprint Curve that his work gave him, and he can get to it through that... but it was spotty for him (his Sprint Curve is going through a BES server from his employer, whereas mine goes through the Sprint BIS server... so that could account for the "spotty"-ness). I was likening the OTA MobiPocket store to the wireless service of the Amazon Kindle, and that seemed appealing to me. Now, I know it's not the same as the Kindle.. not even close really, but the idea that I could finish a book in an airport and purchase and download another right on the spot seemed cool to me. Honestly though, I can sync with my PC... and I could easily purchase a new book before I finish the current one so that wouldn't happen. So it's really no big deal.

I'd much rather have a Kindle, but in the meantime, while the price is still over $200 and I have a perfectly good BlackBerry, I may actually deal with this format for a bit. My biggest concern now is battery drain from the backlight being on for hours while I'm reading. ;-)

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