In an ever-evolving world, the electronic book reader is changing the way people experience the written word. 

Barnes and Noble’s Nook and Amazon’s Kindle allow bookworms to create their own electronic bookshelves and read from the screen of a portable device rather than bound pages.

The Nook has two screens, a six-inch reading screen and a colored touch screen for navigation. The Kindle has a similar reading screen but has a keyboard to navigate.

The devices hold books similar to how an iPod holds music. A Nook has two GB of internal memory that can hold 1,500 books and has expansion room for a micro-SD to hold up to a total of 7,500 books.

Amazon recently updated its product to hold up to 3,500 e-books, but it does not have room for extra space.

The biggest problem that people have with the Nook or any e-book reader in general is that it is not an actual book.

A person cannot bend the pages to hold a spot or flip the page quickly to scan the next page, and it is more difficult to read the last page before ever reading the first.

However, the lowered cost of reading for some outweighs these inconveniences.

Recently developed bundle packaging has further increased the affordability of reading electronically.

In store, the Crank series by Ellen Hopkins is $10.99 each in store, $8.99 on the Nook and in a bundle package of the first three books is $23.99.

In addition to books, there are magazines and samples to read.

Anyone with a Kindle can purchase an e-book from Borders online or Amazon, while people with the Nook can only purchase e-books from Barnes and Noble’s online site.

Also, both the Nook and Kindle have a lending service that allows anyone who has the same device is able to borrow an e-book for 14 days.

Regular updates offering new features on both devices have also increased the attractiveness of this technology.

The Nook’s updates can all be downloaded online for free. There are currently six models of the Kindle, three of which are updated models since the first one hit the market in 2007.

With a Barnes and Noble account, a person can set up a Nook application on an iPhone, iPod or iPad.

Any books associated with the account can be downloaded to any of those devices as well as the Nook.

While e-book naysayers may stick to their paper and ink, it is certain that, for many, the electronic book will continue to change the way people read now and in the future.