eReaders, e-readers, and Ereaders

Starting point: This post from The Librarian in Black.

The L.i.B. gushes over her Kindle, but assures us she feels guilt over it because, "As you probably know, the Kindle is the only eReader devices that doesn’t allow library digital content onto it."


Photo from wired.com

I myself went with the B&N nook for my eReader of choice, mostly because what I really wanted was something I could use to read articles on Instapaper and through Google Reader. Something that was bigger than my phone, and had color, and cost less than a $600 (more with accessories) iPad.

I'm fairly happy with it, but that doesn't change the fact that the Kindle is still seen as the standard in the collection of eReaders available today. What this means for libraries is that we're telling a lot of people the new Kindle they got for Christmas isn't library compatible, sorry, better luck next time. And hey, have you heard of Project Gutenberg or Google Books?

What we can't do is give them the information also presented in the L.i.B.'s post, which is how to illegally get around all the pesky DRM limitations by reformatting files and things like that.

What I wonder (not that I would ever DO such a thing) is how such books would show up in a Kindle. Because one of the most annoying things about my nook is that the files I download from the library or Google books won't show up in my main "nook library." They're in a another less easily accessible file. Boo to that.

The regular nook books show up on the main page with shiny covers. (Shiny because the nook has an LCD screen instead of eInk (e-ink?) which means you can't read it outside in the sun because of glare. As I've told anyone who asks, I don't tend to read outside if at all possible. So that's a non-issue. And it would be nice if I could see the shiny covers to ALL of the books I download, not just the ones I paid B&N for.)

So I wonder what the Kindle interface is like. I've played with them a little bit in the stores, but have never really gotten down to brass tacks (plastic pushpins?) with one. I probably won't, unless someone I know gets one, because how many librarians have the discretionary income to buy TWO eReaders? (Frankly, I'm pushing it with one.)

But even so, in the spirit of my "Information wants to be free!" profession, it's probably good to know that people can get around the DRM protections if they really want to. After all, they paid for the device, why can't they do what they want with it?