I've been reading ebooks for years – actually since the late 1990s, when I got my first PDA and installed the Peanut Press ereader. The first book I read on a PDA (Palm IIIx) was "The Wailing Asteroid" by Murray Leinster. I soon discovered tons of free books and plenty of low-priced digital content to explore. Eventually Peanut Press became Palm Digital Media then eReader.com and was eventually purchased by the Fictionwise group that got gobbled up by Barnes & Noble. Fast forward to 2012 and I currently have ereaders from Barnes & Noble (Nook), Kobo, Amazon (Kindle) and others on my iPhone and their desktop counterparts on my laptop. Just from the Peanut Press/Palm Digital Media/eReader/Fictionwise group, I have close to 100 titles. At any given time, I am reading a half dozen books from various genres. In my digital archive, I have several hundred ebooks from many different publishers, websites and retailers. Over time, I've replaced several dozen books from my dusty shelves with digital copies.
While I am careful about downloading and backing up my digital library, I know that not everyone takes that precaution. You should! Aside from the obvious threat of hacking, server crashes and failed backups, here is yet another reason why – one of the pioneers of online ebook distribution is about to go away forever as another casualty of the Great Book Wars of the 21st Century. But, all is not lost! You can transfer those books to the Barnes & Noble Nook ereader (don't forget to backup those titles to your local archives). You don't have to have the Nook device to use their ereader on your iPhone, Android, etc. The app is free and easy to use. For those of you, like me, who have been reading ebooks on Palm PDAs and later on other devices, heed this email excerpt if you purchased books or magazines from Peanut Press/Palm Digital Media/Fictionwise/Bookwise/eReader.com:
As you may know, in March of 2009, Fictionwise, comprised of several eBook retail websites, including Fictionwise.com, eReader.com and eBookwise.com, was acquired by Barnes & Noble.
eReader.com is in the process of winding down its operations, and eReader.com will end sales on December 4, 2012. Please note you will not be able to access your eReader.com Bookshelf after December 21, 2012.
An Easy Transition to Barnes & Noble's NOOK® Reading Experience
We know how important eBooks are to you, and we'd like to offer you the opportunity to transfer your eReader.com Bookshelf to a NOOK Library…
You can read more at the link below:
http://www.ereader.com/BN-Transition-FAQ.htm