E-readers, tablets, and e-books, oh my!

[Carina Gonzalez]

So...out of the blue my principal says he wants to talk ebooks and asked me which tablet would be the best for the school.  iPad?  Kindle?  Nook?  Kobo?  I don't have a budget so I've done zero research on this front.  I automatically said iPad because I actually have a Nook Color and found it frustratingly limited.  I bought an iPad instead.  But he balked at the price.  Has anyone already done the comparisons?  What are your findings?  Thanks in advance.

[Danielle]

I have been considering purchasing a couple of e-book readers for our elementary school library and had been leaning toward Kindle Fire or Nook Color because of price and the ability to enjoy picture books on the reader. I don't know as much about the Nook Color what did you not like about it? I would love to have an iPad but am struggling to justify the cost to myself.

I think that you have to consider how you plan to use the e-books. Will you allow them to circulate? Will you allow younger children to use them? Will children be allowed to use them at all or will they only circulate to teachers/staff?  Will they be used only for reading books or will they be used for apps and access to the internet as well? Hope this helps. I have a small budget and am still trying to decide myself.

[Carina Gonzalez]

Thanks for replying Danielle.

There were a few things I didn't like about the Nook Color.  I'll list them.

1. It was buggy.  Every once in a while features would vanish.  I'd have to reboot to get it working again.  I felt like I had to fight with it to work constantly.
2. Few apps.  It's run by Android, but it's not open to the entire Android market.  It's limited to the B&N Nook/Android market which is ridiculously small compared to what's available out there.
3. Apps were more expensive.  The same apps on the iphone or ipad are less, across the board.  At least from what I've seen.  Several apps that I can get for free on my iphone or ipad aren't free for the Nook Color.  Or aren't available at all.
4. It's just a reader.  Which is probably an unfair statement, but I kept wanting to do more and more on the Nook Color and it just couldn't keep up.  You can browse online and check your email, but this naturally led to wanting to do other things on it.  I got tired of starting something on the Nook only to put it down and have to start all over on another device because it just couldn't do what I wanted it to do.
5. Charger is flimsy.  I'm not the only person to complain about this.  The mini-USB jack just asks to be snapped in half.

Here's what I liked about it though:

1. Sturdy.  I can drop my Nook Color down a flight of stairs in its case and I feel like it would be fine.  My iphone and ipad are just more delicate.
2. Price.  Nuff said.
3. Smaller size.  To me that's a positive because I do a lot of work lying down (bad back).

[Barbara Gogan]

We use Destiny, so we decided to start with Follett ebooks so we didn't need to buy ereaders. 

[Carina Gonzalez]

Hi Barbara, thanks for replying.

Could you tell me more about Follett ebooks?  What do you mean you don't need ereaders?  I'm assuming you can just read online?  What about on already existing mobile devices like smartphones?

Thanks in advance for your answer.

[Kris Feller]

I really dislike the Follett ebooks. They are so clunky to use! I have a few high interest titles in that format (Hunger Games etc) and when all of the print copies are out I have shown kids how to access the Read Online function. They appreciate the option, but are not impressed with the format at all.

With my HS students I have often recommended that they download the free Kindle for Mac app (other formats available too) and then peruse the Kindle store for books. There are a lot of free downloads available for the classics and for academic titles. The reader is so easy to use.

[Barbara Gogan]

The Follett ebooks are available on anything you have--a tablet, any computer.  Your local Follett rep will be happy to come and show you what it's like on his laptop.  SInce we're an elementary school and very few of the students have ereaders and we don't want to lend them out to very young children, this works well for us.

[Carina Gonzalez]

Thanks for all of the responses everybody!  I have multiple perspectives now, which is great.  I'll have my Follett rep come and give me "the sell" on Follet ebooks (with a grain of salt) and I'll take it from there.