An E-Book That Glows in the Dark – The New York Times – David Pogue

As you may already know, Barnes & Noble has come out with a new Nook: the GlowLight, an e-reader with a backlight so one can read in the dark. Pretty nifty! But is it really that great?

First, Pogue makes a very good point towards potential e-reader buyers:

Because buying a reader isn’t like buying a car, a DVD player or a hair trimmer. All of those tools are fairly universal. You’re not committing to one brand of gas, one kind of movie or one style of mustache.

No, when you buy an e-reader, you’re committing to that one company’s catalog of books forever, because their book formats are mutually incompatible. You can’t read a Kindle book on a Nook, or a Nook book on a Sony Reader, or a Sony book on an iPad. Sure, you can read Nook and Kindle books on an iPad, but when you buy an actual Nook or Kindle, you’ve just married its company forever. If you ever want to change brands, you have to give up all the books you’ve ever bought.

He then continues to describe the various e-readers out there, their positive and negative qualities.

Finally, he gets straight to the point of the article: what the GlowLight Nook is, and whether it’s good.

All of that long-winded exposition is your introduction to the Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight. Basically, it’s an E Ink screen that self-illuminates. It gives the light gray background of your “page” a gentle glow for nighttime reading, much like the backlight on digital watches.

…The reality lives up to the theory in every way. The GlowLight Nook offers glorious, clear, peaceful darkened-room reading. The illumination comes on when you press the N button beneath the screen, and detracts nothing from the natural E Ink reading experience. The factory-setting brightness is ideal, but you can make it brighter or dimmer using an on-screen slider.

Click on the link and be sure to read the second page as well for more information! More comparisons for e-reader shoppers continue. I think if I didn’t already have the Nook, this article would really help me make my decision.