Kindle for iPhone

Last night, I finished my first entire book — John Derbyshire’s “We Are Doomed,” about which more later — on Kindle for iPhone. Why? Because the book was $9.99 in its Kindle format, and roughly twice that much in paper. I needed not to spend the extra money. But it ended up a very pleasurable reading experience.

For one thing, Kindle recently updated its iPhone software so you can take notes and highlights. That’s baseline-level service, to be sure, but it really makes the reading experience on the phone that much more useful. And it offers an advantage over regular book-reading: I can easily look up every single highlight and note I took — no flipping around, trying to remember important passages — which will be useful, since I’ll be interviewing Derbyshire about the book on Saturday.

But it was also great, when I was done, to be able to slip my reading material into my pocket and move on down the road. What’s more, the Kindle app doesn’t really consume battery power too quickly.

I still don’t know if I’d want to read a novel in this format. But I’ve got a half-finished copy of Neil Sheehan’s “A Fiery Peace in a Cold War” at home that’s next on my list to finish. It’s a big, bulky book. I’m going to see if I can cheerfully return to lugging and grappling with such massive tomes. But an e-reader is looking much more attractive to me. Christmas, here I come!

Why I probably won’t buy the Nook, Barnes & Noble’s new “Kindle Killer”

Barnes & Noble has unveiled its new e-reader, the Nook, and I couldn’t be happier. I haven’t gotten around to buying an e-reader yet — I came close to buying a Kindle earlier this year, didn’t, then realized that Amazon’s policies regarding book ownership kind of creep me out. More competition in the e-reader marketplace means that I’ll soon have choices of better e-readers at cheaper prices.

Still, I don’t think I’m going to buy a Nook. Why?

• TOO MANY MOVING PARTS: The Nook actually has two screens — an e-ink screen for book-reading and a second full-color computer screen for browsing your library, making purchases, etc. Basically, there are two machines in one slim plastic case. The more parts you have in a system, the more likely it is one of those parts will break down. It seems unnecessarily complicated, and seems to raise the chances I’ll have to (sooner than later) ditch the e-reader I have and buy a new one.  I’m sure it will be completely reliable, but I’m not that sure it will be completely reliable.

• TOO MANY FEATURES: The Nook has an MP3 player in it. Guess what? I don’t want an MP3 player. I’ve already got one! So, too, does anybody who is going to shell out $260 for a reading machine.

Here’s why e-readers intrigue me: I’ve gotten used to reading on a screen. I spend my days working and consuming loads of information from my laptop. I can even read books on it, if I choose, but I don’t choose because the laptop provides me too many opportunities for distraction — music, video, work, etc. So in addition to the convenience — I can download a new book at 2:30 in the morning! I can take my reading on long trips without making my luggage much heavier! — one thing I want out of an e-reader is not so many distractions. I want to read a book and not be tempted to check the weather, e-mail or any other damn thing. Instead of feature creep, I need fewer features.

• THERE’S MORE COMPETITION COMING: In addition to the Kindle, there’s also Sony’s family of e-readers. Plastic Logic will be coming out with its own version soon, and other companies are jumping into the fray. I’d like to be an early adopter — but more than that: If I’m going to buy an e-reader, I want to make sure that it’s one that best suits my pocketbook and reading habits. I can wait a little bit.

It helps that old-fashioned paper books still work pretty well. Yes, e-readers are convenient for purchasing and carrying around your books. But there’s nothing really wrong with a good old paperback, is there? It makes the wait a little easier.