Yesterday Barnes & Noble released their new e-reader, the Nook Color with a 7 inch color touch screen, WiFi, and an Android platform that will feature a growing number of “Nook extras” including games and video. There will also be social networking tools, music features, magazines, newspapers, a shop, pictures, lending, borrowing…is anyone else out of breath from reading that features list? Oh, and you can read books on it too. Did I mention that? While Amazon stresses the readability of its newest line of Kindles, Barnes & Noble seems to be pushing for a spot next to the iPad as the newest hot gadget.

So my question is…what happened to reading? While I consider myself a purist who truly enjoys the feel of a physical book in the hands (also may be known as old fashioned), I hoped that the increasing popularity of e-books might encourage formerly reluctant readers to pick up the habit. If you can pick up one of the classics or the latest as casually as choosing a song from your now ubiquitous iPod, it should lower the barrier for excuses. And for awhile, the excitement of trying something new did seem to spur new readers. While the time-worn purists refused to be sullied by the newest fad of digital consumption, hundreds, perhaps thousands of people were jumping in with gleeful abandon. And many found that they enjoyed reading. They enjoyed the experience of discovering characters, getting lost in a story, being transported to an entirely new place by the words of a skilled writer. And so while some may debate whether these digital units can truly be considered books, readers were experiencing the same joy that a hardcover or paperback would bring.

Now though, if Barnes & Noble’s new whiz-bang Nook Color is any indication, simply reading may no longer be enough. Now your “book” must also be able to communicate with friends, check email, show videos, and play games as well. And to me at least, it is ironic that the company who boasted their first e-reader as being backed by “the bookstore you grew up with” is the first to put out a product that is no longer focused solely on the reading experience, while the upstart young tech company that is Amazon continues to push what is essentially a portable personal library. Will this leap to embrace new technology help or hinder “the world’s largest bookstore”? Only time will tell.