Do you have set pieces of technology that you bring with you everywhere you go? Devices that you just can't leave the house without? A watch, maybe. Or a standalone camera? I imagine your phone is one of them, but then again, maybe not. I do know a few people who leave the house without their phone on purpose (this is crazy to me). Or, maybe it's something else.
Whatever it is, I imagine that you've got at least one thing that you always have on you, including your phone. It's also possible that your phone has taken care of the need for you to carry anything else around. All of the people out there who used to bring a camera with them, for instance, but decided one day to leave it home because they have a phone that handles that for them.
And that's how quickly it happens, isn't it? Just, one day you find yourself looking at the device you used to bring with you everywhere, and you just decide to leave it behind. Suddenly, the routine you used to have is completely different, thanks to one piece of your daily formula changing. Sometimes you go back to it, but more often than not you probably just keep moving forward.
That's how it was for me for music players. Just, one day, I went from not using a CD player to using a random MP3 player, before getting a Zune (I was pretty resilient against the iPod, for whatever reason), and telling myself I'd never need anything else. Because I loved the Zune. Still do. It'll always have a special place in my heart, like webOS. It's reserved forever.
But, obviously, I ditched my Zune HD and just started using my phone. And it happened that quickly. One day I had all my music on my phone, and that was that. No more need for the Zune, so it got left behind.
With Samsung and Barnes & Noble putting the Galaxy Tab 4 Nook back in the news cycle, I realized that the same thing happened to my standalone Kindle. I used to carry that with me everywhere. I love reading, so having all of those books in one place, with a device that was so lightweight and small, was always great. I was a huge fan of the e-Ink display, too. But then, and I don't even know when this happened, I decided to just stick with my tablet (that I originally kept for my daughters) as my primary reading device.
And now the Kindle eReader is in a box somewhere. Collecting dust.
The e-Ink eReader does have quite a bit to offer, especially when it comes to specifically reading, but the advantages of doing everything from my tablet apparently outweigh all of that. I can go from reading, to playing a game, to checking Twitter, and catching up on news all from the same device, relatively painlessly. On the eReader, though, it was just reading. Sure, there were games, and yes, I could read news-based content, but the experience was far less appealing on the Kindle than on the tablet.
And that's why the same companies created their own tablets. The Nook Tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX (and variants) are designed to give the user the reading experience, but also expand the functionality so they don't go somewhere else. Barnes & Noble is continuing that trend, but trying to jump on the Galaxy Tab brand at the same time. And here I am, wishing they had attached themselves to the Galaxy Note brand instead.
I always knew I'd eventually give up the eReader, but I thought I'd miss it more than I do. Standalone devices are great, sure, but for me I guess it's all about consolidation. I want the perfect device that brings it all, and I mean all of it, together.
Did you ditch your eReader for a tablet, or maybe just your phone? Are there any other standalone devices you've opted to stop using, in light of consolidating it with another device? Let me know!
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