My Kobo Reader arrived this weekend.  And wow, it’s a very nice light reader — almost Star Trek:TNG-like. It makes my Sony PRS-505 Reader seem heavy and cumbersome. The contrast reminds me of the difference between Mac and PC. And at only $150, it’s a great entry-level reader for people new to e-reading technology. It’s not the golden $99 price point yet, but getting there.

The Kobo doesn’t have the wireless capability that comes with a Kindle, but then my Sony doesn’t have wireless either. Plug and load is still a great way to get what you want to have on the go. The Kobo interface is simple and easy to use, with the only disappointment that I can’t load ePubs that I’ve purchased from other stores.

Then the “a-ha” moment arrived. The Kobo isn’t really competing with Sony or any of the other readers on the market. Kobo is going after Amazon. The Kindle reader isn’t really the “thing” that Amazon is interested in selling. Amazon wants to be the source for content — much like iTunes is the source for music and video and Apple happens to sell the device you can play them on. Kobo wants to play too.

Kobo has focused its efforts on content delivery over multiple platforms. You can read your Kobo books on your Blackberry or iPhone, on your desktop computer, on other readers (including the Sony), or now on its own portable reader. So the hardware solution doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be cheap, cheerful, and easy to come by. (Though the Kobo is very cute, with the soft blue rubber navigation button on front and grey quilted back. Plus the 100 pre-loaded free books sure help the open-the-box, get-started ease.)

No, the real money for Kobo will come from selling content that can be used anywhere a consumer wants it. With multiple platforms available for reading what I buy, I’m going to do all my e-book purchasing at Kobo from now on. And that’s just what they want to happen.

P.S. It makes a wonderful Mother’s Day gift.  My 68-year-old mother LOVED it as soon as she touched it. Not sure what she’ll do with her collection of fabric book cover protectors and bookmarks, but she’ll surely find some way to make the Kobo even more homey than it already is.