Today I was discussing plans for Memorial Day with my wife, part of which might involve visiting a Civil War display at the nearby Greenfield Village. I was struck by the fact that America has only experienced one Civil War. Many other nations have undergone several; some have even experienced dozens of civil wars.
As we look to Memorial Day, it is good to remember with gratitude those who have given their lives to secure our present prosperity and freedom, as well as to watch with suspicion for those who would steal it away piece by piece behind our backs in the name of ease and security.
Most of all, we should thank God for what freedoms we enjoy and be mindful of how we use the time and other advantages we have; they are not guaranteed indefinitely.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Christian Hip-hop to Replace Hymns?
World Magazine had an interesting article yesterday. Over all, I was disappointed with the direction taken by the article. Rather than trying to approach the issue fairly, the discussion was prejudiced from the first sentence:
Oddly, the implied question "What music is most popular?" is paired with the question "What form of contemporary music today has the most theological content?" Or, to put it another way, "Isn't a song that uses more Bible words better than a song that uses less?" The first question implies "CCM has failed [for evangelism/edification]; what will work better now?", which is rather blatantly pragmatic. Admittedly, the second is an important question: is more Bible in our music better? But perhaps a more basic question is "How does God expect me to use and receive music?" Should my focus be on music I enjoy or listen to when alone, or on music in the context of my local church? Or some combination of both?
One key factor in answering those questions is the relative uniqueness of our current situation. With many people in our congregations possessing iPods, internet access everywhere, and enough extra money to buy recorded music (CDs, MP3s, and so on), accessibility and personalization of music is possible to an unprecedented degree.
Contrast that to the early church, where no recorded music was available for personal enjoyment or edification throughout the week; in all likelihood, the only Christian music they would have experienced or participated in was in the weekly worship service. For that matter, consider the situation even in the past century; individuals having nearly immediate access to thousands of songs is a very recent phenomenon.
The author asserts:
Does the Bible discuss specifically me listening to music at home? Not really, as is to be expected if this is a recent development. But, the Bible has clear principles about the use of music by the church, which is a good starting point for informing the discussion.
The Scriptural precedent for using music to edify other Christians is primarily found in Ephesians 5:15-21 and Colossians 3:12-17. While the text does not explicitly say that such edification is to only take place when the congregation is gathered, it does seem to be a direct verbal process between believers who are part of the same congregation. This is implied from Paul writing these epistles to specific congregations, as well as the "one another" language Paul uses frequently in his epistles to describe person-to-person ministry in the church setting.
Since we live in an age of digital proximity and personal distance, what does application of those passages look like for us?
First, participating in congregational edification has priority. The Bible does not forbid my being edified at home or outside of church by music produced by other Christians I will never meet, but I need to be participating in worship and mutual edification in the gathered assembly of my local congregation.
Second, supporting my local congregation has priority. If I'm spending all my money on buying songs from other Christians or professing Christian musicians, and I fail to support the work of my local church, I am failing in responsibilities directly commanded by God (e.g. 1 Timothy 5:18; 2 Corinthians 9:7). This holds true of other things as well - buying Christian books, attending seminars, and supporting parachurch ministries may be a legitimate use of my money, but not until my pastor and his family are provided for and my church is equipped financially to do their work well.
Returning to the article, here is a major premise the author is making:
While it is true that perceptions of appropriate instruments and music styles have changed over the years, we should not then assume there are no objective or absolute standards of beauty. Sometimes music is perceived as ugly because it is different. Sometimes it is perceived as ugly because it is ugly, and time will not change that perception for the thoughtful Christian.
Perhaps some biblical principles for determining objective beauty can be explored further at another time, with Philippians 4:8 as a starting point, as well as the question of whether using more Bible words equates to a better song.
If you are looking for theologically saturated Christian music that has the greatest potential for widespread appeal, your best option may be Christian hip-hop."Potential for widespread appeal" should never be our primary criterion. Fidelity to what Scripture commands or teaches in principle must always come first, and rarely is that approach popular.
Oddly, the implied question "What music is most popular?" is paired with the question "What form of contemporary music today has the most theological content?" Or, to put it another way, "Isn't a song that uses more Bible words better than a song that uses less?" The first question implies "CCM has failed [for evangelism/edification]; what will work better now?", which is rather blatantly pragmatic. Admittedly, the second is an important question: is more Bible in our music better? But perhaps a more basic question is "How does God expect me to use and receive music?" Should my focus be on music I enjoy or listen to when alone, or on music in the context of my local church? Or some combination of both?
One key factor in answering those questions is the relative uniqueness of our current situation. With many people in our congregations possessing iPods, internet access everywhere, and enough extra money to buy recorded music (CDs, MP3s, and so on), accessibility and personalization of music is possible to an unprecedented degree.
Contrast that to the early church, where no recorded music was available for personal enjoyment or edification throughout the week; in all likelihood, the only Christian music they would have experienced or participated in was in the weekly worship service. For that matter, consider the situation even in the past century; individuals having nearly immediate access to thousands of songs is a very recent phenomenon.
The author asserts:
It is important to keep in mind that Christian hip-hop, unlike other contemporary genres, generally is not intended for use during corporate worship, so rejecting its appropriateness for the liturgy is not relevant.However, we cannot entirely divorce what we do at home or on our own time from what we do at church. The two settings are different and our range of activities will be different, but I am still the same person, so what I do in the one setting will affect to some degree what I do in the other.
Does the Bible discuss specifically me listening to music at home? Not really, as is to be expected if this is a recent development. But, the Bible has clear principles about the use of music by the church, which is a good starting point for informing the discussion.
The Scriptural precedent for using music to edify other Christians is primarily found in Ephesians 5:15-21 and Colossians 3:12-17. While the text does not explicitly say that such edification is to only take place when the congregation is gathered, it does seem to be a direct verbal process between believers who are part of the same congregation. This is implied from Paul writing these epistles to specific congregations, as well as the "one another" language Paul uses frequently in his epistles to describe person-to-person ministry in the church setting.
Since we live in an age of digital proximity and personal distance, what does application of those passages look like for us?
First, participating in congregational edification has priority. The Bible does not forbid my being edified at home or outside of church by music produced by other Christians I will never meet, but I need to be participating in worship and mutual edification in the gathered assembly of my local congregation.
Second, supporting my local congregation has priority. If I'm spending all my money on buying songs from other Christians or professing Christian musicians, and I fail to support the work of my local church, I am failing in responsibilities directly commanded by God (e.g. 1 Timothy 5:18; 2 Corinthians 9:7). This holds true of other things as well - buying Christian books, attending seminars, and supporting parachurch ministries may be a legitimate use of my money, but not until my pastor and his family are provided for and my church is equipped financially to do their work well.
Returning to the article, here is a major premise the author is making:
Could Christian hip-hop simply be the “ugly” music of our era?Earlier, he answered the question in a way that implies that what is "ugly" is completely relative to when and where you live.
Dr. David Koyzis, in his book Political Visions and Illusions, highlights this ignorance by noting, “Many conservatives dislike ‘pop’ or ‘rock’ music and prefer, say, the baroque pieces of Bach or Telemann. . . . The very label ‘baroque’ was used in a derogatory fashion by conservatives of that day to describe what they felt to be ugly music.” Today many hail the “ugly” church music set to baroque as the height of Christian music and a form that should be normative today.Or, he snidely implies that applying some form of the regulative principle is merely a personal preference:
For example, in Christian traditions that sing only the Psalms without instrumental accompaniment, the worst thing for them would be to sing praise to God using lyrics not directly from the Bible and to pollute music offered to God with instruments like a pipe organ.As an aside, lumping all those who oppose the use of hip-hop into a category with people like David Stewart at Jesus-is-Savior.com is an easy out.
But even with the deep theological content found in much of Christian hip-hop, many evangelicals view it as an inappropriate medium for Christian music. This objection reveals some level of ignorance about the historical development of Christian music.
While it is true that perceptions of appropriate instruments and music styles have changed over the years, we should not then assume there are no objective or absolute standards of beauty. Sometimes music is perceived as ugly because it is different. Sometimes it is perceived as ugly because it is ugly, and time will not change that perception for the thoughtful Christian.
Perhaps some biblical principles for determining objective beauty can be explored further at another time, with Philippians 4:8 as a starting point, as well as the question of whether using more Bible words equates to a better song.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
The Glory Due His Name: Review and Related Thoughts
I've been doing some study on the topic of worship recently. Part of that study involved reading The Glory Due His Name: What God Says About Worship by Gary Reimers, part of the BJU Seminary faculty.
Having finished the book a few weeks back, I believe that Dr. Reimers made some helpful points. For example, he described five key aspects of proper worship in a service: preparation, praise, prayer, presentation (i.e. the offering), and preaching. These categories were supported from Scripture and carefully explained.
The more intriguing section to me was the second half of the book, which addressed wrong forms of worship. The first part of that section (Chapter 2) involved exegesis of Exodus 20:3-6 and similar passages in the Old Testament, which according to Dr. Reimers teach a frightening principle: God will punish your children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren if you insist on worshiping Him in a wrong way. I still need to think through the implications of this concept, but it seems to be supported fairly well by contextual and exegetical evidence.
Connected with the above principle, in third and final chapter of the book, Dr. Reimers evaluated the consequences of wrong worship. What does wrong worship look like? In other words, "worshipping the right God the wrong way"? He gives four categories: 1) worship based on imagination (from Exodus 32, the golden calf incident), 2) worship focused on innovation (from Leviticus 10:1-3, where Nadab and Abihu were killed), 3) worship like the world (from Deuteronomy 12:29-32), and 4) worship marketed for convenience (from 1 Kings 12:26-31, where Jereboam started the false worship at Dan/Bethel).
His application of the first category (p. 74) was focused on worshiping God according our conception of Who He is, rather than how the Bible describes Him. His application of the second category dealt with church marketing approaches and their tendency to assume what is new or different is automatically better. His application of the third category focused on the use of sanitized rock music by Christians in their worship services. Finally, the last category was applied in terms of making the main consideration for service times, clothing choices, and similar decisions the convenience or lack thereof for the participants.
I think overall his book was written very well. I do have some further items to consider in light of his applications of the principles, specifically related to music we use in church.
First, if we should not worship God according to our imagination, then we need to be careful about using songs which do not present a biblical view of God. For example, singing songs that only present God as love, or more generally, only choosing those kinds of songs to include in our services, will give people a false view of God.
Second, if we should not worship God like the world worships their gods, then yes, we should acknowledge that various rock artists have stated they intended their music to promote sex, drugs, and general immorality. But we would be wrong to assume that earlier musicians were entirely free of such motives in their works. It's not as though sin was something that began to happen in the 1960s; various musicians and performers in the 1800s participated willingly in the sins of their times, such as adultery and drunkenness. It would seem reasonable, then, that such themes could have affected their compositions as well.
These are items I need to consider further.
Having finished the book a few weeks back, I believe that Dr. Reimers made some helpful points. For example, he described five key aspects of proper worship in a service: preparation, praise, prayer, presentation (i.e. the offering), and preaching. These categories were supported from Scripture and carefully explained.
The more intriguing section to me was the second half of the book, which addressed wrong forms of worship. The first part of that section (Chapter 2) involved exegesis of Exodus 20:3-6 and similar passages in the Old Testament, which according to Dr. Reimers teach a frightening principle: God will punish your children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren if you insist on worshiping Him in a wrong way. I still need to think through the implications of this concept, but it seems to be supported fairly well by contextual and exegetical evidence.
Connected with the above principle, in third and final chapter of the book, Dr. Reimers evaluated the consequences of wrong worship. What does wrong worship look like? In other words, "worshipping the right God the wrong way"? He gives four categories: 1) worship based on imagination (from Exodus 32, the golden calf incident), 2) worship focused on innovation (from Leviticus 10:1-3, where Nadab and Abihu were killed), 3) worship like the world (from Deuteronomy 12:29-32), and 4) worship marketed for convenience (from 1 Kings 12:26-31, where Jereboam started the false worship at Dan/Bethel).
His application of the first category (p. 74) was focused on worshiping God according our conception of Who He is, rather than how the Bible describes Him. His application of the second category dealt with church marketing approaches and their tendency to assume what is new or different is automatically better. His application of the third category focused on the use of sanitized rock music by Christians in their worship services. Finally, the last category was applied in terms of making the main consideration for service times, clothing choices, and similar decisions the convenience or lack thereof for the participants.
I think overall his book was written very well. I do have some further items to consider in light of his applications of the principles, specifically related to music we use in church.
First, if we should not worship God according to our imagination, then we need to be careful about using songs which do not present a biblical view of God. For example, singing songs that only present God as love, or more generally, only choosing those kinds of songs to include in our services, will give people a false view of God.
Second, if we should not worship God like the world worships their gods, then yes, we should acknowledge that various rock artists have stated they intended their music to promote sex, drugs, and general immorality. But we would be wrong to assume that earlier musicians were entirely free of such motives in their works. It's not as though sin was something that began to happen in the 1960s; various musicians and performers in the 1800s participated willingly in the sins of their times, such as adultery and drunkenness. It would seem reasonable, then, that such themes could have affected their compositions as well.
These are items I need to consider further.
Monday, March 7, 2011
God Is Good...Demonstrated Thoroughly
Randy Alcorn does an admirable job of attempting to vindicate God's goodness, power, and knowledge despite the existence of sin and suffering. His work thoroughly addresses such topics as the origin of sin, the characteristics of sin today, as well as the consequences of both Adam's sin and our own, and the subsequent effects on health, morality, and all of life.
The best feature of the book are the section headings in each chapter, which help to structure the points Alcorn is making. Without these headings, the sheer length of the book, and difficulty of the questions addressed, would be overwhelming. Furthermore, the chapters are short and specific enough to be used in an encyclopedic fashion, as an alternative to reading the entire book.
Alcorn takes a moderately Reformed view of the question of God's goodness, power, and knowledge in terms of the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Interestingly, and helpfully, Alcorn clearly prioritizes passages which reflect God's perspective on the issues connected with evil and suffering, rather than man's perspective. His basic conclusion on the issue is that God created the world, knowing and allowing evil and suffering to mar it, in order to fully demonstrate His character and more fully glorify Himself.
Despite a clear theological focus, Alcorn also includes human interest stories and asides which illustrate and involve the reader in thinking through what is at stake in the various topics discussed.
Although lengthy and at times more in-depth than the average church attendee might prefer, Alcorn does an excellent job of presenting an orthodox defense of the character of God, while addressing the heart-rending experiences and frustrations of the grief-stricken Christian who honestly and thoroughly considers the world in which he lives.
The best feature of the book are the section headings in each chapter, which help to structure the points Alcorn is making. Without these headings, the sheer length of the book, and difficulty of the questions addressed, would be overwhelming. Furthermore, the chapters are short and specific enough to be used in an encyclopedic fashion, as an alternative to reading the entire book.
Alcorn takes a moderately Reformed view of the question of God's goodness, power, and knowledge in terms of the relationship between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Interestingly, and helpfully, Alcorn clearly prioritizes passages which reflect God's perspective on the issues connected with evil and suffering, rather than man's perspective. His basic conclusion on the issue is that God created the world, knowing and allowing evil and suffering to mar it, in order to fully demonstrate His character and more fully glorify Himself.
Despite a clear theological focus, Alcorn also includes human interest stories and asides which illustrate and involve the reader in thinking through what is at stake in the various topics discussed.
Although lengthy and at times more in-depth than the average church attendee might prefer, Alcorn does an excellent job of presenting an orthodox defense of the character of God, while addressing the heart-rending experiences and frustrations of the grief-stricken Christian who honestly and thoroughly considers the world in which he lives.
Monday, February 14, 2011
An Ironic Quote in the Context of Egypt's Troubles
In the NY Times for Monday, 2/14/11, an article entitled "Egyptians and Tunisians Collaborated to Shake Arab History" contained this quote:
According to the official, Mr. Obama told him,"You have a large portion of your people who are not satisfied, and they won't be until yo make concrete political, social, and economic reforms."Did you listen to yourself, Mr. Obama? Do you not see the irony of your statement in light of your stance toward a significant percentage of us in America who don't want bread and circuses, but rather a stable government which protects our borders and our homes rather than one which provides for our every want and whim?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Choosing Between Kindle and Nook Color
If you're in the market for an e-reader, and you're not sure between the two main competitors, Amazon's Kindle device and Barnes & Noble's Nook Color reading tablet, here's a few questions to ask. Note that Kindle refers to both the device and to the ebook format that Amazon uses; Barnes & Noble calls their device Nook Color and refers to their ebook format as Nook Books.
1) What's my budget?
The Kindle WiFi is $139. The Kindle WiFi + 3G (adds a 3G radio which gives you very basic internet access via a cell connection for checking email or downloading ebooks) is $189. The Nook Color is $249. You can buy discounted gift cards for Barnes & Noble from various websites in order to knock another 4-9% off the price. Currently, no discounts are available for the Kindle, and buying from a third-party is not ideal, since there is no way of verifying the seller is legitimate. Amazon has the power to deactivate your device if the original owner tells them the Kindle was lost or stolen.
2) Do I want something that looks like paper, or do I prefer a touchscreen like an iPod or cell phone?
The Kindle does not have a touchscreen. Screens are navigated using a four-way toggle button with a select button in the middle. But, the screen looks a lot like paper and doesn't have a backlight which causes eyestrain for some people after reading for long periods of time. On the other hand, the Nook Color has a capacitive touchscreen which is very responsive and allows for quick highlights and notes, but is backlit like a computer screen.
3) Do I want to use my e-reader outside most of the time? Or, a related question: Do I travel a lot?
Pick Kindle - nothing else is as clear and readable in sunlight - if you're reading outside a lot. If you're traveling, then it depends on whether you want battery life measured in weeks (Kindle) or in days (Nook Color), in addition to whether you read mostly outside, where Kindle has the advantage, or inside, where Nook Color will typically be more readable.Also, the Nook Color weighs almost twice as much as the Kindle.
4) Do I want lots of free ebooks or the biggest selection of ebooks, magazines, and newspapers?
Amazon/Kindle has the biggest selection of ebooks/magazines/newspapers. Many free books are offered on a weekly basis, though B&N will often offer the same books. Amazon also typically has the cheapest prices, but since the advent of something called the Agency model, prices on certain books are fixed so Barnes & Noble will probably have the same price on bestsellers. An interesting feature: Barnes & Noble will let you archive old issues of magazines and possibly newspapers; Amazon deletes the oldest issue once you have 6-7 issues.
5) Do I want to download apps?
Kindle has a few (5-10) game type apps; Nook Color will shortly have a limited selection of 'reading-related' apps. Many more are also available if you 'root' or hack the Nook Color to allow installing other Android apps, including the Kindle app which lets you read ebooks from Amazon. The rooting process is fairly easy but also runs the risk of voiding your warranty or messing up your settings. Still, you do get the flexibility of reading ebooks from Amazon and Barnes & Noble on the same device.
6) Miscellaneous questions: Do I care about page numbers? Do I want to download library books?
Page numbers are built-in to the Nook Color ebooks; they are a planned future feature for the Kindle, but not available generally yet. Library books are accessible on the Nook Color, but you have to have a library which supports ebook downloads, then register your card, locate the book on their website, download it to your computer, and finally copy it over to the Nook Color using Adobe's Digital Editions software. The selection of books is limited, and popular books have long waiting lists. Kindle does not support library books at this time.
A final note:
Barnes & Noble also sells the Nook Wifi (not to be confused with the Nook Color). This is an e-ink device like Amazon's Kindle but uses older technology, so the background is not as white and the text is not as dark (lower contrast). The navigation is also not as intuitive. I would avoid it, unless you can find it under $100, as a new model will likely be released in the next few months using the latest e-paper screen.
1) What's my budget?
The Kindle WiFi is $139. The Kindle WiFi + 3G (adds a 3G radio which gives you very basic internet access via a cell connection for checking email or downloading ebooks) is $189. The Nook Color is $249. You can buy discounted gift cards for Barnes & Noble from various websites in order to knock another 4-9% off the price. Currently, no discounts are available for the Kindle, and buying from a third-party is not ideal, since there is no way of verifying the seller is legitimate. Amazon has the power to deactivate your device if the original owner tells them the Kindle was lost or stolen.
2) Do I want something that looks like paper, or do I prefer a touchscreen like an iPod or cell phone?
The Kindle does not have a touchscreen. Screens are navigated using a four-way toggle button with a select button in the middle. But, the screen looks a lot like paper and doesn't have a backlight which causes eyestrain for some people after reading for long periods of time. On the other hand, the Nook Color has a capacitive touchscreen which is very responsive and allows for quick highlights and notes, but is backlit like a computer screen.
3) Do I want to use my e-reader outside most of the time? Or, a related question: Do I travel a lot?
Pick Kindle - nothing else is as clear and readable in sunlight - if you're reading outside a lot. If you're traveling, then it depends on whether you want battery life measured in weeks (Kindle) or in days (Nook Color), in addition to whether you read mostly outside, where Kindle has the advantage, or inside, where Nook Color will typically be more readable.Also, the Nook Color weighs almost twice as much as the Kindle.
4) Do I want lots of free ebooks or the biggest selection of ebooks, magazines, and newspapers?
Amazon/Kindle has the biggest selection of ebooks/magazines/newspapers. Many free books are offered on a weekly basis, though B&N will often offer the same books. Amazon also typically has the cheapest prices, but since the advent of something called the Agency model, prices on certain books are fixed so Barnes & Noble will probably have the same price on bestsellers. An interesting feature: Barnes & Noble will let you archive old issues of magazines and possibly newspapers; Amazon deletes the oldest issue once you have 6-7 issues.
5) Do I want to download apps?
Kindle has a few (5-10) game type apps; Nook Color will shortly have a limited selection of 'reading-related' apps. Many more are also available if you 'root' or hack the Nook Color to allow installing other Android apps, including the Kindle app which lets you read ebooks from Amazon. The rooting process is fairly easy but also runs the risk of voiding your warranty or messing up your settings. Still, you do get the flexibility of reading ebooks from Amazon and Barnes & Noble on the same device.
6) Miscellaneous questions: Do I care about page numbers? Do I want to download library books?
Page numbers are built-in to the Nook Color ebooks; they are a planned future feature for the Kindle, but not available generally yet. Library books are accessible on the Nook Color, but you have to have a library which supports ebook downloads, then register your card, locate the book on their website, download it to your computer, and finally copy it over to the Nook Color using Adobe's Digital Editions software. The selection of books is limited, and popular books have long waiting lists. Kindle does not support library books at this time.
A final note:
Barnes & Noble also sells the Nook Wifi (not to be confused with the Nook Color). This is an e-ink device like Amazon's Kindle but uses older technology, so the background is not as white and the text is not as dark (lower contrast). The navigation is also not as intuitive. I would avoid it, unless you can find it under $100, as a new model will likely be released in the next few months using the latest e-paper screen.
Finding an E-reader, Part 4: The Right Stuff
After my previous experiences with crummy e-readers, I was hesitant to try something else. The iPad (at $429+) was well out of my price range ($250 or less), in addition to being too big (10") and too heavy (1.5 lbs). The same was true of most Android tablets; they were too expensive (e.g. Galaxy Tab at $499; Viewsonic G Tablet at $350), or they wouldn't be released for several more months.
But I had begun to hear good things about Barnes and Noble's Nook Color. Obviously with an LCD screen, there were drawbacks compared to the Kindle, including glare in sunlight, shorter battery life, and weight of 16oz, rather than the 8oz of the Kindle. But the Nook Color also had many advantages, including an 1024x600 IPS screen that reviewers praised as bright and crisp, a reasonable price of $250, and the probability of upgrades from the current Android OS 2.1 software, either from B&N or the third-party developers who were busy unlocking functionality of the tablet.
I went to the store to check it out. Three times, in fact. The text was certainly crisp, not quite as good as the iPod Touch, but surprisingly good for a screen three to four times as large. Although moderately heavy, the 16oz device was also ergonomic and well-built. And the price was certainly tempting. On the third visit, I bought the Nook Color.
I had a minor issue with an e-gift card that I had purchased to use toward the Nook Color; the online ordering system had a two-day backup so my "instant" e-gift card didn't come for two days. But the local B&N customer service was great in allowing me to apply it retroactively to my Nook Color purchase.
After taking it home and installing the latest update from Barnes & Noble, I decided to see how hard it would be to unlock the tablet to install other programs. Twenty minutes later, after following lengthy but detailed instructions, I had the Kindle app and various other programs installed and working great, as well as software in place to simulate physical Android tablet buttons (Home, Back, Menu). After making a few additional adjustments over the next few days, the battery life is outstanding (projection: 8+ hours), I have access to downloading apps from the Android Market, and the text is clear enough not to bother my eyes for extended reading sessions. Plus I don't need an extra light to read at night.
The Nook Color is by far the best value in the sub-$300 bracket of Android devices. I'm sure faster and more-featured devices will come out in the next few months, but I doubt any will approach this price-point/feature balance. Could I use a camera, Bluetooth, or GPS? Sure. But for reading books and using basic Android apps, the Nook Color is great.
But I had begun to hear good things about Barnes and Noble's Nook Color. Obviously with an LCD screen, there were drawbacks compared to the Kindle, including glare in sunlight, shorter battery life, and weight of 16oz, rather than the 8oz of the Kindle. But the Nook Color also had many advantages, including an 1024x600 IPS screen that reviewers praised as bright and crisp, a reasonable price of $250, and the probability of upgrades from the current Android OS 2.1 software, either from B&N or the third-party developers who were busy unlocking functionality of the tablet.
I went to the store to check it out. Three times, in fact. The text was certainly crisp, not quite as good as the iPod Touch, but surprisingly good for a screen three to four times as large. Although moderately heavy, the 16oz device was also ergonomic and well-built. And the price was certainly tempting. On the third visit, I bought the Nook Color.
I had a minor issue with an e-gift card that I had purchased to use toward the Nook Color; the online ordering system had a two-day backup so my "instant" e-gift card didn't come for two days. But the local B&N customer service was great in allowing me to apply it retroactively to my Nook Color purchase.
After taking it home and installing the latest update from Barnes & Noble, I decided to see how hard it would be to unlock the tablet to install other programs. Twenty minutes later, after following lengthy but detailed instructions, I had the Kindle app and various other programs installed and working great, as well as software in place to simulate physical Android tablet buttons (Home, Back, Menu). After making a few additional adjustments over the next few days, the battery life is outstanding (projection: 8+ hours), I have access to downloading apps from the Android Market, and the text is clear enough not to bother my eyes for extended reading sessions. Plus I don't need an extra light to read at night.
The Nook Color is by far the best value in the sub-$300 bracket of Android devices. I'm sure faster and more-featured devices will come out in the next few months, but I doubt any will approach this price-point/feature balance. Could I use a camera, Bluetooth, or GPS? Sure. But for reading books and using basic Android apps, the Nook Color is great.
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