Kobo E-Reader and a Review of the Evolution of Reading

This review of the Kobo e-reader deals with the features and attributes of the Kobo. It also goes into some social interaction issues and how the Kobo e-Reader compares to similar devices on the market. It may take a long time before books are replaced by e-readers, but the technology is definitely here.

We are now entering an age where reading paper books will be obsolete. Reading books in electronic format will all but replace books, magazines, and newspapers within a short time. The expense and time consumption of using conventional printing methods seals the fate of traditional reading formats. Reading books with devices such as this Kobo e-reader is becoming more common just like the way music is now commonly downloaded. Technically, many kinds of devices can be considered an e-reader but they all lack the single functionality that leads to the ability to actually simulate a real book.

There are a several models of e-readers on the market that one might call much better than the Kobo e-reader but that depends on your definition of better. Is an Internet connection necessary to add function to the Kobo e-reader? You can load e-books onto the Kobo via a USB port on your PC. Headphones and listening to music is distracting to readers and so is unnecessary. In this case, better is not the number of functions but functionality that's important. The simplicity of this workhorse is combined in a unit that is the perfect size to act as a humble replacement for the real thing.

The Kobo e-reader uses a technology called E Ink. This technology emulates traditional printed text. You can choose between Serif or Sans-Serif font and the fonts have five size settings. Some users claim they sometimes forget they are holding technology and think they are reading the real thing. There is no screen saver and problems with transient image persistence have been reported. That is a fancy way of saying images are burned into the screen.

The battery life on this Kobo e-reader is unbelievable. The manufacture claims that the device maintains charge for two weeks. This long battery battery would hardly be possible if the unit had all the bells and whistles like the Nook or the iPad has.

If you like to read this Kobo e-reader is a great bargain at $149.00. It is a cool place to store a lot of classics, it comes with a hundred of them, and a way to buy books much cheaper than the physical equivalent. Does all electronic devices have to have full blown computer capability? I predict that by using higher integrated electronics and lighter weight materials and a little innovation thrown in, there will be future e-readers, such as this Kobo, but crammed with all the latest tech. Get a Lady Gaga video going in the upper right corner, then you can plug your headphones in and listen to Lady Gaga while you read War and Peace and still think you are reading a real book. That would set back reading a few hundred years even with the technology.

"Kobo e-reader." koboereader.com
"Kobo Books." kobobooks.com