Thursday, March 15, 2012

By Hook or by Nook

Plugging in...

The reader may know enough to banter about the terms Kindle or Nook, but does the reader know and understand the usage and costs of the very cool, hand-held book readers?

The Nook was recently given as a gift to a Tutor client and the Tutor was asked to assist in the intial setup and usage of the gift. The Nook did NOT work right out of the box... it needed to be charged at least an hour before we could initiate the setup.

Once the setup began, an account had to be established at Barnes and Noble (maker of the Nook) to buy books, and a thorough discussion of electronic book formats, downloads and borrowing books from the library took place. Although using the Nook isn't difficult, once charged, setup, account established, Overdrive downloaded from the library for use with borrowed books, and prices seen for e-books, the Tutor's client was exhausted and the original glee associated with receiving the Nook had dimmed.

Reading a book just got a lot more complicated! The client's goal was to read borrowed books on the Nook. The technical side associated with using Overdrive and the short expiration of the borrowing time for library books, changed the client's mind. Although the Tutor completed the borrowing of two library books for the client, the "gift" was returned.

The final thoughts: too expensive to buy the e-books, and too much technical prowess required to borrow from the library (the library also didn't have e-books for 90% of the books we searched for).

ALWAYS REMEMBER: before calling for help - is it plugged in, CHARGED, account established, and is it turned on?

Unplugged

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