Trade 48: Kobo e-reader for TV Trays

Ever since e-readers gained popularity as consumer products, I’ve thought about getting one. But I was never convinced enough as to their functionality and usability to actually make a purchase.

When I saw this, I thought it would be a perfect way to try a basic e-reader, without spending any money, to see whether I liked the form factor.

As it happened, the poster needed some TV trays. Yep, I flipped the trays from the previous trade:

And in return I got:

So the ‘net trade’ was a pair of books for an e-reader.

Specifically, a Kobo Wi-Fi, the second iteration of the Kobo e-reader. A rather old, terribly slow, and obsolete model. But having it was instructive (and the leather case was a sensual joy to handle).

It turns out that I don’t mind using an e-reader. This particular model was clunky but... tolerable. I didn’t even dislike the cheap plastic feel to it—this freed me from worrying about accidentally dropping it or losing it (as compared to how I might feel about dropping an expensive electronic item). 

I particularly enjoyed toting it about on the subway on my Bunz-related travels around the city.  

But I only wound up reading a couple novels on it. One bitterly cold winter evening, I was walking home from the subway station and managed to completely reset the device. All the pre-loaded texts were deleted, and even though it would boot, thereafter I never managed to successfully load new texts onto it, that it would recognize.

I had essentially bricked it.

This made me sad, as I’d developed an attachment to the device. Would I be able to find a replacement on Bunz?

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