I’m a total book nerd. I’m not going to lie.

So, when I read about the Nook last Tuesday, I was super psyched. (No, a “Nook” isn’t a character out of a Dr. Seuss story).

A Nook is what Barnes and Noble calls an “eBook Reader.”

It’s about the size of a paperback novel, only instead of being thick, it’s really thin. There’s a big computer-like screen on the front, which lets one log on to Barnesandnoble.com where one can download thousands of books in seconds, as well as newspapers, magazines and blogs.

Once downloaded, you have the entire book. It’s yours-you just read it from the screen, as if you would a regular book.

Only this isn’t a regular book. It’s a Nook. And it can hold up to 1,500 books.

The Nook will not be available, however, until November, at the price of $259.

Barnes and Noble is not the first company to come up with something like the Nook.

The Kindle, extremely similar to the Nook, has been around since last year. The only difference is that the Kindle was created by Amazon.com and costs about $50 more. The Kindle also charges more when books are downloaded.

But the Nook seems better, not only because it is cheaper, but because it has more options than the Kindle.

I would love to have a Nook.

But putting all entertainment uses for the Nook aside, I got to thinking. Is the Nook the way of the future?

Just think about it. If Eastern required every student to get a Nook, it could put all of its textbooks on it.

Do you know how much lighter your backpack would be? Students might not even need to carry a backpack around at all.

And just imagine-no more long lines at Textbook Rental.

You would never forget a book for class, if you had them all downloaded onto a Nook.

Another advantage a Nook has for textbook use is that it allows students to highlight any section in any part of the book.

The Nook is also useful because, although it runs on battery power, it can last for days, even weeks. If you are in the middle of reading something and happen to turn the Nook off, it will keep your place so when you turn it back on you can continue without having to flip through pages.

The only difficulty I see with Eastern using a Nook for textbooks is-would we still get the low price of rented textbooks?

But even so, the Nook has a “lend” option.

Textbook Rental could technically “lend” books to students’ individual Nooks, and by the end of the semester, all students have to do to return them is lend them electronically back.

There would be no textbook damage fees ever again. I understand they are almost finished with the new Textbook Rental building, and it probably would be a waste of construction if Eastern went Nook.

But still, in my opinion, the Nook is a good option to look into for the future. Eastern’s been trying its hardest to be technology friendly, and I think using the Nook for textbooks would be the perfect way to continue that attitude.

Sam Sottosanto is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at [email protected] or 581-7942.