Barnes and Noble has just announced, and is taking pre-orders for, the first dedicated E-Ink E-Reader with an accompanying backlit screen feature.
And if you’re scratching you’re head and wondering what all that means let me explain in a bit more detail! Prior to the creation of this new Barnes & Noble E-Reader there have been two types of E-Readers and tablets that you could read E-Books upon.
The first type of E-Readers feature what is known as E-Ink displays. Devices with E-Ink screens feature black text on a light grey back ground. These readers, and the entry level Kindles and Nooks fall under this category, are great to take to the beach or the lake or to use to read in any outside location because sunlight doesn’t reflect off the screen. Additionally of note, if you use one of these E-Ink readers in your house then you’ll need to sit next to a lamp just like you would with a traditional print book.
The second type of E-Reading devices feature what is called a backlit display. These E-Reading devices, which include the iPad, Kindle Fire, B&N Nook Color and Nook Tablet as well as a multitude of Android tablets, feature black text on a bright white screen. The text on the bright white screen is reminiscent of what text looks like when you type it into a Microsoft Word document. And this type of E-Reading device isn’t an easy one to use outdoors because sunlight does reflect off the screen making text difficult to read. On the other hand, these E-Reading devices are great to use indoors because you never have to worry about whether you’re sitting next to the best reading lamp in the house or not. In fact, you can even use these E-Readers with all the lights in a room turned off and you’ll still be able to easily read the text on the screen.
And now Barnes & Noble is coming out with a third type of E-Reading device. Their new E-Reader, which will be available May 1, is called “The Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. This new E-Reader features an E-Ink display and an option to turn on backlighting so one can both read outdoors and also easily read an E-Book in the house without having a care as to where the best reading lamp in the room is!
If you’re interested in this new Nook B&N has a webpage devoted to it and you can access it by clicking on the following link:
Just another E-Reading device to consider should you be interested in taking the E-Reading plunge!
And if you recently purchased an E-Reader and have questions about how to use it please joins us for our next E-Reader workshop – it will be held next Thursday, April 19, 2012 starting at 6 PM.
Linda R.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 