Yeah, the great thing about Kobo is that it's not an ebook device with an ebook store and reading software built around it. It's an ebook store and reading software with an optional ebook reader.
The key here is openness. Kobo's strength lies in cross-platform flexibility. The Kobo service supports ePub and PDF, so if you bought a book elsewhere, there's a good chance you can use it in their system. The way it works is you have the software installed on your devices, whether it's your laptop, smartphone, iPod Touch, iPhone, the Kobo reader itself, whatever, and it keeps track of your library.
For example, let's say you start reading Moby Dick on the Kobo reader and you get to page 34 before you get a phone call from your daughter, asking for a ride. You go to pick her up, but she's still inside chatting with her friends before coming to the car. You could either sit around those 5 or 10 minutes and listen to the radio or your MP3 player, or you can fire up your iPhone's Kobo app where it will automagically drop you in on page 34 when you tap on the Moby Dick cover. You know, because that's where you left off on your Kobo reader. So you read to page 41 before your daughter finally gets to the car. You drive home, pick up your Kobo reader, and it flips you to page 41, because, you know, that's where you left off, right?
If I had to choose today, I'd go with Kobo. It's built around a system of ebook reading, not a device. Your bookmarks follow you no matter what device you're reading on.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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