We may be early adopters on a lot of techie stuff, but we’ve held off on the ebook readers. I can’t use my highlighter on them.  

Then last fall we started seriously checking out what’s available.  First the Kindle, then the big screen Kindle DX.  Several lesser known names.  Then Barnes and Noble’s introduced the Nook.  They missed their Christmas target date (that had to hurt).  The Nook has some very interesting features like highlighting.  For me that’s huge.  Then I discovered the Kindle has a cut and paste function that can string together what I would’ve highlighted.  That sounds very useful!

Then Apple introduced the iPad eReader with incredibly cool features.  Interestingly enough, the only negative comments I’ve heard seem to be Mac fans who want the iPad to be a full functioning computer rather than a really cool eReader.   If those comments drive Apple to further tweak the iPad, great!  Most non-Mac fans think the iPad is totally awesome.  A big brother to the iPhone.

That’s where we find ourselves.  I just got an iPhone last October (birthday gift from my iPhone owner husband).  Until then, a cell phone was just a convenient way to communicate when I wasn’t near my land line.  I had text messaging, but I didn’t have Internet access, email from my cell or any other techie features.  Of course, Mike did, and he’s always been up on all the latest and greatest tech toys, looking for fancy cell phones that did everything but laundry.  When my son got an iPhone, Mike checked it out and had to have one.  My son gave my daughter-in-law an iPhone for her birthday, so it was only fitting that I should get one too.  I took a power leap into communication and technology on the go.  Do not try to pry it from of my fingers.

Until the iPhone I wasn’t sure if I’d really use an ebook reader since I was still clutching my highlighter.   I got a Bible ap for my iPhone and discovered I enjoy reading that way.  The ap I use lets me bookmark passages to a growing list of my ‘highlights’.  An ebook reader will just make it easier than reading from a  2" x3" screen.  So I’m doing my due diligence on the features of all of the eReaders to see which one will best fit my wants and needs.  Mike’s already got his hand raised to say ‘I want the iPad.’ 

Here come the Scams.  I started writing this because I ’m now getting emails saying the iPad is great and I can have a chance to get one for free.  You might get those emails too.  Don’t fall for it.  The free chance will cost you!  Here’s the tell-tale sentence:  ’For simply completing a brief survey, and fulfilling all offer requirements, you could be on your way to a new Apple iPad! Participate now before this offer runs out.’  ‘Fulfilling all offer requirements’ means they probably will be showing you lots of things to buy to keep your name in a very large hat for drawing (if they ever really do a drawing).  The loophole, of course, is that if you’re supposed to get 3 from this page and 3 from that page (yes offers like that are real), and you find 4 on one and 2 on another or don’t want 6, then you simply don’t get entered into the ‘chance to win’.  But they get to keep your information already submitted.

Right now the Apple iPod is hot, so that’s the hook they use to get you to buy stuff.  Oh yes, they also add your information to a list that gets sold to a lot of other lists.   I entered my name and a unique, different email address one time only for something online and discovered that list has been sold and resold so many times it took nearly three years to unsubscribe from them all.  Sometimes these lists (where you originally entered your contact information)  are sold to List Brokers who then sell them several times to people buying leads. 

Not all offers are scams. Just beware of the ones that require you to accept other offers to win the original item.  Read the email offer completely and don’t feel obligated to buy things you didn’t intend to get.  You might also wind up on a lot of email lists offering even more ’stuff’. 

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