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If you're already in the Kobo ecosystem, you could upgrade to the Kobo Aura ONE. Kobo bought Overdrive a while back and integrated borrowing into the e-reader. You just search put in your library card info, search for a book, and select borrow. It's all done on the e-reader. You don't even need to use a computer at all. I've been really happy with mine (for the few weeks I've had it). The other option is to go over to the dark side and get a kindle. Many libraries let you temporarily add books to your kindle library and they sync over just like a regular purchase. Either way, no WINE, no USB cable, no proprietary OS on your computer.

No way are they "at least $120"

You quote some prices that are below $120, but I (in the US) can't find those models. The cheapest model available from https://us.kobobooks.com/colle... is $119.99. Here's those prices:

Kobo Aura Edition 2 : $119.99
Kobo Aura H2O : $159.99 (out of stock)
Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2 : $179.99 (out of stock)
Kobo Aura ONE : $229.99
Kobo Aura ONE Limited Edition : $279.99

I have no idea how those model names line up with the ones you posted, except for the one exact match for "Kobo Aura H2O", which you have a $20 more.... so maybe those are cheaper in the states, if you can get them.

FWIW, I also checked walmart.ca. They only have 2 models (Kobo Aura Edition 2 $129.99, Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2 $199.98), and both are more expensive.

Where can one get the Kobo Mini or the others?

There are precious few markets in which "anybody" can open a store and compete successfully against the big established players. Go out on the high street and you mostly see franchises and big-name stores. E-books are little different, but I do agree that there seems to be too much collusion between distributors like Amazon and the publishers. Diesel has just gone out of business and Sony are pulling out of e-readers: it's a tough market. Nonetheless, there are e-book distributors out there who aren't Amazon, Apple, or Google. e.g. BAM, ebooks.com, and Kobo. Of course there's also B&N. Plus there's a bunch of smaller outfits, such as Lulu, Smashwords, and Baen, which deal with indie or non-DRM books. So it's not quite true that the little guy is out of e-books. Of course the big 3 or 4 on-line companies are squeezing the little guys, but they're doing this in a range of markets, not just books. We have a general problem in this regard.

I'm just starting my writing career and as such I have not sold many copies of my short story that I have published now.

The larger problem is not Google or Disney. It is the culture of free or close to free material that has been created in the past few years. The $0,99 books are good example of this. While people still have to pay for things in real life they have to get income. This applies to writers as it does to anyone else. People now have unrealistic expectation of what items cost when they are digital. It is not the cost of distribution that is the issue. It's the cost of living for the writer in question. This is also why many old time writers (and other types of artists) are having hard time adjusting to new times and the digital age.

The digital publishing is not without it's problem. It's only at certain price range that I can get 70% of the sale price. Where I sell my e-books if I go over 12,99€ (or local equal) I only get 45% (still better then the physical copy returns) of the price directly in my pocket and this out before I pay local taxes of that income. If I sell paper version of my book, the e-book has to be 20% cheaper then the paper copy. If I want to make a decent living from writing I have to sell a lot of copies. I might one day do so, but so far it has not happened.

Let's be clear on copyright. Today it's set-up to service the corporations. Not the actual content creators, regardless if that are writers, visual artist or music creators. That is why it's so long and that is why it's always getting extended. There is nothing complex about this issue and never has been. DMCA type laws are also good example of this. I am not sure if they help people like me, a lone writer with no lawyers or the financial resources to stop anything if an book gets torrented (in fact, that might actually help me I guess). Since DRM lock are no good since they get stripped away from the e-book. People who did not buy the e-book in the first place are also the people how are unlikely to do so at later stage.

At last. The shameless plug of my first published short story. It's DRM free.

Link: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook...

That's why I use Calibre + plugin to strip out the DRM from Amazon e-books. Then I can lend them to whomever I like!

That's why I refuse to buy from Amazon, even their so-called 'DRM-Free' books, because they don't offer eBooks in a universal format.

Buy direct from Baen and O'Reilly or, as a last resort, find the DRM-Free books on Kobo, because at least they offer them as epub downloads. It's not easy to sift the DRM-Free gems from the DRM'd dross at Kobo, but it can be done with patience.

Till last week, I had never heard of Kobo. Now there is a story everyday about Kobo.

They've been around for a few years, but since their main revenue driver seems to be their bookstore they don't get as much attention as the more flashy iTunes or Amazon. I've only bought one book from them because I don't like the idea that their content is not in a standard epub format (I don't buy the argument that standard epubs without DRM aren't a valid business model... O'Reilly uses them... JK Rowling's "Pottermore" store uses them...). They've had licensing arrangements to be the bookstore that is tied to some dirt-cheap ebook readers you've never heard of, but they first came to my attention when Target gave them the boot last year in favor of a closer relationship with Barnes and Noble.

Target was carrying two models of their e-ink e-readers (the WiFi and the Touch), and suddenly put them on clearance for 30% off, then 50% off. At that point I didn't have an e-ink e-reader so I figured I'd try it for 50% off.I can only read books on my iPad for so long before the weight and the backlit screen get to me. The "pearl" e-ink screen Kobo was using made all the difference. I was spending less time watching TV and more time reading books. Then they went down to 70% off as Target tried to clear the last units from their supply chain, and I spent an afternoon driving around to different locations buying them up to give to friends and co-workers as gifts. A friend of mine who is over 65 and an avid book reader (but definitely not a gadget guy... he still doesn't even own a cell phone) has been devouring books on the Kobo WiFi I gave him. His employees tell me he's sitting in his car reading it before work, and sitting in his office reading it while he eats lunch. A friend in her 20s who is a physical book "purist" has taken to the one I gave her in a similar fashion, despite the fact that she told me she'd never read e-books. I'm sure they'd get the same enjoyment out of a Kindle (until Amazon remotely deleted their books one day), but it was cheap enough and usable enough that it turned some pretty staunch anti-e-book people into devotees.

Beyond that, their software is open source. The devices run a stripped down Linux distro and there is a community dedicated to rooting and hacking the device... and as far as I can tell they're not fighting it. It was pretty simple to SSH into the device and play around in the shell. A little Googling turns up instructions on how to do it, and videos of people running Python games on the Kobos. This alone should make Kobos a more attractive choice for the Slashdot crowd.

But their offerings weren't really all that different from the Nook and Kindle until Kobo announced earlier this week that it was selling the "limited edition" Kobo Aura with the high-resolution screen. At 256ppi, it's pretty close to the resolution of the current generation "retina screen" iPad, which is listed as 264ppi. Plus the interface looks more usable than the Kobo I'm already spending a few hours a day reading. Totally worth it to me, but YMMV.

You mean like this app ?

While you're waiting for a color e-ink reader to show up, if you are near a Target store check their e-reader case.
 
They're pissed off at Amazon and clearing out the Kindle Fires for 30% off, but the real news is the Kobo. Target seems to have had a falling out with Kobo and recently started dumping their products. I picked up a couple Kobo Touch units (touchscreen, wifi, e-ink pearl, web browser, runs linux, easily root-able if you're into that sort of thing) for $29.98 and a Kobo WiFi (same as the touch, only no touchscreen, no web browsing, slower processor) for $20.98. Kobo sells these on their Web site for $99.99 and $69.99 respectively. For the price Target has them at, buy two, use one as a nice e-reader and use the other one for hardware/software tinkering. All the ones near me are now sold out, but you might still find some.

The backstory on Target's falling out with Kobo has a bit to do with getting cozier with B&N's Nook, but also Kobo sold them a bunch of e-readers that display ads when they're turned off if you update the software to the latest version. Target says Kobo was playing dirty by slipping that in without labeling the products as such, Kobo says Target was well aware and agreed to label the boxes in the stores and insists Target was neglecting to inform consumers to sell more units. It's really not a huge deal, especially if you're getting a $100 e-reader for $30, and if you don't update the software, it'll never show ads anyway.

While you're waiting for a color e-ink reader to show up, if you are near a Target store check their e-reader case.
 
They're pissed off at Amazon and clearing out the Kindle Fires for 30% off, but the real news is the Kobo. Target seems to have had a falling out with Kobo and recently started dumping their products. I picked up a couple Kobo Touch units (touchscreen, wifi, e-ink pearl, web browser, runs linux, easily root-able if you're into that sort of thing) for $29.98 and a Kobo WiFi (same as the touch, only no touchscreen, no web browsing, slower processor) for $20.98. Kobo sells these on their Web site for $99.99 and $69.99 respectively. For the price Target has them at, buy two, use one as a nice e-reader and use the other one for hardware/software tinkering. All the ones near me are now sold out, but you might still find some.

The backstory on Target's falling out with Kobo has a bit to do with getting cozier with B&N's Nook, but also Kobo sold them a bunch of e-readers that display ads when they're turned off if you update the software to the latest version. Target says Kobo was playing dirty by slipping that in without labeling the products as such, Kobo says Target was well aware and agreed to label the boxes in the stores and insists Target was neglecting to inform consumers to sell more units. It's really not a huge deal, especially if you're getting a $100 e-reader for $30, and if you don't update the software, it'll never show ads anyway.

This is exactly why I made a point of buying an e-reader that supports ePub; I don't want my content tied to anyone's specific platform. (In my case, I went with Kobo because they're a Canadian company, they've got their reader software on every platform I care about, and they use ePub.)

Sure you can use handy tools like calibre to convert between formats, but it can't always do it cleanly... sometimes you get confused tables of contents, or headings are formatted as regular text, for example.

Amazon's moving rapidly towards having monopoly power over ebook sales; this exclusive deal just makes it worse.

You could get a Kobo Vox http://www.kobobooks.com/kobovox_tech ... It's suggested retail price is $200, and it isn't an e-book reader running a limited/locked down Android, it's an Android tablet that comes with the Kobo app pre-installed. You get full un-fettered Android, including everything you'd expect from a more expensive Android-based tablet: the Android market, GMail, web browser, etc.. It's only a 7" display, and it's got an 800MHz processor, so that may be a bit anemic, but what do you expect from something that's being sold as an ebook reader? It's got the same processor and memory as a mid-range Android phone, and it should be fine for most use.

I won't be buying one because I don't feel like I need a tablet, and I'm quite happy with my Kobo Touch ebook reader, but if I was in the market for a tablet/ebook reader, this one would be top of my list. No GPS in it, but otherwise it has everything you'd expect an Android tablet to have.

Don't forget the Kobo Vox - 7" colour eReader w/ web browser and Android apps for $199. The big advantage of Kobo is that you can run their software on the Kobo, iPad/iPhone, Android, BB, Palm or computer. Each title is fully transportable so you don't need to worry about device lock-in.

The article was all-around useless for the stuff that actually mattered. So here's a link to the specs page for the device on their official website:

http://www.kobobooks.com/kobovox_tech

Most important:

It's a matter of perspective. For example, you list the features you consider the "most important", but to me they're mostly fluff. Only two of the specs you listed (OS and battery) mattered to me.

Also important to me:
Wireless Connectivity--Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Micro USB*
Supported File Formats--Books: ePUB, including fixed layout and enhanced ePUB. Images: JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP Audio: MP3, AAC, .3gp, mp4, m4a, flac, ogg, wav, mid. Video Formats: 3gp, mp4, webm
Web Browsing--Open Web browsing
Utilities--Email (POP, IMAP, Microsoft® ActiveSync support), Address Book and Calendar

The article was all-around useless for the stuff that actually mattered. So here's a link to the specs page for the device on their official website:
http://www.kobobooks.com/kobovox_tech

Most important:
Device Size 192.4 mm X 128.4 mm (7.57 in. 5.06 in.)
Device Depth 13.4 mm (0.53 in.)
Weight 402.6 g (14.2 oz.)
Diagonal Display Size 7" FFS+ multimedia display; 1024 x 600 resolution
Screen Qualities Multi-touch screen with exceptional +/- 89 viewing angle
Processor 800 Mhz; 512 RAM
Operating System Full open access to Android 2.3
Storage 8GB of internal storage, holds 8,000 books** and unlimited Kobo eBook cloud storage
Memory Expansion Option to add a 32 GB SD Memory Card
Battery Life 7 hours***

actually, the competition *is* much better.

ebooks are cheaper on the whole for the Kobo, and the Kobo has a *much* larger library of ebooks available, including a very large selection of free ebooks, thanks to integration of their marketplace with Project Gutenberg and Smashbooks. Kobo also has the largest selection of international books in the bookstore of any of the manufacturers, which makes them a much better option for anybody living outside of the US, or who wants to read books in non-English languages. The hardware is very good quality, the screen is better than Sony is using (I've used both), and the battery lasts just as long. They also have a colour e-ink version coming out in the near future (already taking pre-orders) which means that they're likely to be first to market with colour e-ink ebook readers. They're also a lot easier to load ebooks from other sources to than the Sony, as it mounts as a USB drive when you plug it in to your computer... copy the ebooks to the device, turn it on, and your books are right there.

And that's just one of the competition that's better than Sony. There's others that I'd pick over the Sony in a heartbeat... the Amazon Kindle is a great ebook reader (their disabling 3G web access aside), the B&N ebook reader is super-easy to hack into an Android-based tablet, etc. The Sony is actually the worst of the bunch, based on the ebook readers that I've used, and giving mine away and replacing it with the Kobo Touch was a no-brainer.

Powerpoint doesn't work? Its your fault. Didn't embed that YouTube video correctly? Its your fault. Your laptop can't talk to the projector? Its your fault. The Projector doesn't work? Its your fault. If you aren't professional enough to have your research paper backed up on a thumbdrive, a second laptop for your group presentation, or even /gasp!/ a paper copy, ITS YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT.

Hmmm... sounds an awful lot like you're quoting Guy Kawasaki's The Art of the Start without proper referencing ... ;-)

- Jesper

I'm confused with the random selection in the summary of the two examples. I looked up more nerdish books and was met with many examples of the exact same price: Kobo's Eye of the World vs BoB Eye of the World. Both $6.99. Makes me wonder if the prices aren't dictated by the publisher. I'm also confused how BoB calls itself "the Largest Independent eBookstore" as they're clearly hosting major publishers' works. I'm guessing the McCarthy book cited in the summary is going through different copyright fee channels with the distribution. Either way, I have yet to be impressed with any electronic publisher's prices and I don't think I ever will because when I visit publishers' websites like O'Reilly or Tor (Macmillan sub), the eBooks are often sold at or near the regular book price. So this tells me that our problem isn't the distribution site like Amazon or Kobo but instead the publishers who disagree with me on a fundamental level that a soft copy of a book's worth compared to a physical dead tree version. Until then, I'm staying old school. Go ahead and laugh at my room full of books, at least I own something and not an ethereal "right" on an electronic device locked down by some draconian DRM.

You're kiding right ? There are several readers out there including for jailbroken phones and open source. Then there's a couple of options to self publish through some vendors or as an independant straight through Apple.

Sure there are times when making app might provide some added value but to call it the easiest way is simply not true.