Nooky

So, I’ve been debating a nook as a possibility to try and reduce my ‘looking at bright scenes at the end of the day’ habit. Apparently this is bad for your sleep, so an e-ink reader of some sort seemed a good plan. But after the experience with the no-so-Superpad (III) the concept of another unbranded low cost device didn’t make me feel optimistic for future success. So instead I looked at nooks and kindles and hacking of said devices to be more ‘useful’. The newer kindles appear to be a bit challenging to root, but the nook simple touch appeared to be a pretty good bet. And secondhand from the US it was only about £30, which also seemed a good bet.

Having got one I can say I’m quite pleased. It’s not perfect by any means and it runs Android 2.1 which appears to be a bit of a challenge to get some things for, but:

There is Matriline from my greader, there’s an instapaper knock off for it, and after some searching I found an old copy of readitlater which should do for accessing pocket for my beloved.

The e-ink screen is pretty nifty and the quality is pretty good:

although I really want a ‘turn of all animations’ option for everything. Scrolling in greader’s a bit funky, but mostly works. I’ve another rss reader to try out at some point that’s meant to be more configurable. Still; I’d rate the nook fairly highly, especially given the price point and the e-ink display. So, yes.

Originally published at Kates Journal. You can comment here or there.