Item review: Barnes and Noble's nook

First impression: it's cute. It looks kind of like reading on a traditional paper and print page (i.e., if you want to read this in the dark, get a light for it--it isn't backlit like a computer screen). Baen's free library supports this type of reader, Barnes & Noble has a huge selection of free and low price novels (not to mention magazines and newspapers) for download, so there's a lot of stuff you can read on it.

I've had it for a day, now, and I can think of a couple of downsides to it: first of all, I can't figure out how to get the Baen free stuff from the website onto the reader--"zipping" has to do with what you do with your pants before leaving the bathroom, and "unzipping" is what got Clinton in trouble.

Second, I have a horribly fast reading speed--real reading, with comprehension and retention, not this skimming stuff they teach in speed reading classes on campus. It took me five hours to read Dune, and two days to read The Hobbit and all three volumes of The Lord of the Rings. I read most of the Harry Potter books in four hours or less. It takes me less than ten seconds to read the text on the screen (about three screens to a paperback page worth of text). Seriously. I'm telling it to flip to the next screen before it's done realizing it's on the screen I've just finished reading.

I do think it's worth the trouble, and definitely a brilliant idea--this little thing can hide in a legal pad (and then in my lap) to keep me from being bored spitless in the next academic meeting.