Nook vs. Fire

So to me the choice between the Nook Color and the Kindle Fire is an easy choice. But Danielle turns 9 this week. She’s a good reader. She’s been asking for an eReader. We like reading and want to encourage it. While a tad expensive, when you add up all the crap we’d normally get her for her birthday, it isn’t that much more.

So she’s been wanting the Nook Color. It’s the only existing color eReader that has apps.

Now I also want an eReader for my birthday, which is a week later. Instant gratification is not a big deal to me. So the Kindle Fire is an easy choice for me (won’t ship until 11/15). There’s just no way Barnes and Noble can compete with Amazon as an Android platform.

So prior to getting the Nook I’ve been doing the research. And the B&N App store is, well, lame. It’s a tiny subset of the Amazon store and has almost none of the free stuff (when Amazon does a different free app every day).

So today, three days before her birthday, I have the discussion. How do you explain technology platforms to an almost nine year old? But there was one clincher. I had put a free texting app on her iTouch (her odds of getting a cell phone anytime soon are negative). It’s not like she actually has people to text. I asked her, “who are you going to text?”.  “You and Mami”. So for a day, she sent me text messages every five minutes.

That app is available for the Fire. There are no text messaging apps for the Nook.

Sold.

So she’ll have to wait two weeks for her birthday present. For a nine year old, reasonably impressive delayed gratification.

Long term, she’ll be happier. Sorry Barnes and Noble…