What do you anticipate reading on your computer in 2010?

By Rick Castellini, Special to PRIME Last year, we started to see more publicity and stories about e-readers. E-readers are a class of small, handheld devices that allow you to download books, magazines, newspapers, and more. Usually these devices are about the size of a large paper back book, but less than a 1/2" thick. E-readers can hold literally thousands of books, reference materials, and periodicals in a single device. I believe 2010 will be the year of the e-reader. Today, the e-reader world is dominated by two major players; Amazon and Sony. However, by the time you read this, the annual Consumer Electronics Show will be happening or already be finished, and already at least two new players will throw their hat into the e-reader ring during the CES show in Las Vegas. Amazon, e-reader market leader, is already selling their third generation e-reader called the Kindle DX, and the smaller Kindle. The first sports an almost 10" screen, and the latter a 6" screen. Currently, the Kindle is the only e-reader that is capable of downloading new content wirelessly from the Amazon library consisting of almost a half-million titles. Battery life reaches almost 1 week, and the reader can even read the text to you or play your favorite digital songs. Up front costs range from $250 for the smaller version to almost $500 for the larger Kindle. These prices will drop in the latter half of 2010 as more e-readers enter the marketplace. The next most popular e-readers come from Sony. Sony's e-reader screen size matches that of the smaller Kindle, but does not allow for wireless download of content. Instead, like all other readers currently on the market, you must hook it to your computer to download the new content to the reader. However, the Sony offers a unique option to make annotations and notes directly on the reader. The Kindle offers some good note taking tools as well, but the Sony tool set is a little easier to use. This year, a couple of my clients, who travel frequently, purchased e-readers and both are thrilled with their purchase. You can read online reviews of the devices at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble's web site, bn.com. By the way, Barnes & Noble offers their own e-reader called the nook. E-books cost between $4 and $20, but many can also be found for free. New releases usually start around $10. And as I briefly referenced earlier, newspapers, magazines, and blogs can also be downloaded and read on these little devices. If you are an avid reader and/or traveler, take a look at some of the e-readers. 2010 promises to be the year of the e-reader and will bring out increased competition and lower prices, so don't jump too quick. Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and hosts a computer radio show from Colorado. Visit his web site at www.HelpMeRick.com for new tips every week and sign up for his free weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Rick on Twitter @HelpMeRick