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The Kindle Killer Arrives
GeekZilla sends coverage from Wired's Gadget Lab on the Nook, Barnes & Noble's first e-book reader. "Sleek, stylish and runs the Android OS. What's not to like about Barnes and Noble's new e-book reader? Despite the odd name, the Nook looks like an eBook reader that would actually be a worthwhile investment. Best feature? The ability to loan e-books you have downloaded to other Nook owners. The reader, named the 'Nook,' looks a lot like Amazon's white plastic e-book, only instead of the chiclet-keyboard there is a color multi-touch screen, to be used as both a keyboard or to browse books, cover-flow style. The machine runs Google's Android OS, will have wireless capability from an unspecified carrier, and comes in at the same $260 as the now rather old-fashioned-looking Kindle." Here is the B&N Nook site, which is still not visible on their front page and has a few non-working links. (Nook.com isn't set up yet.) Their comparison page takes dead aim at the Kindle. Among the advantages in the Nook's column: Wi-Fi, expandable memory via microSD, MP3 player, and PDF compatibility. (But remember the cautionary note B&N struck six years back when they got out of the e-book business.)
The Kindle Killer Arrives
How do you kill that which has no life?
According to the comparison sheet, they're using AT&T.
I can get a netbook with an e-paper screen that makes battery last for two weeks? Sweet!
Some wireless. Less space than a kindle. Lame.
The real killer question is whether it supports remote deletion like the Kindle does. The feature comparison doesn't mention this. Of course we'll only really know for sure if and when the feature is actually used; claims that it doesn't support it can't really be trusted (and the feature might be added in a later firmware update anyway).
Everyone should get a little Nookie!
Yes. Why do the iPhone and netbook people not get this. Every time an ebook story comes out I have to hear the same ill advice about how sitting in a hammock with an LCD screen that I can't read outside is a better alternative.
[...] that I can't read outside is a better alternative.
Outside? What is this place? Tell me more.
i'm not paying $250 to buy books
That's not really that much. I spent more than that on my bookshelves, and they're not even portable.
"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war." -- Albert Einstein
I would have agreed with you until I got a Kindle as a present. I have started reading a lot more because of it. Its e-ink screen is much better than an iPhone (I don't want a flashlight shining directly into my eyes when I read at night). When I travel, its size is great (fits in my bag much more easily than a paperback).
Also, I find downloading e-books more convenient than acquiring physical copies of books.
These will be instantly obsolete when someone (Apple?) perfects the tablet, single purpose devices won't be competitive.
This right here is one of my main problems with ebooks. Lets face it, I'm a total technogeek. But I have a real issue moving forward with ebooks. I fully understand that these concerns don't apply to everyone, but here are MYcurrent reasons for sticking with paper books, instead of spending money on an ebook reader, and the ebooks themselves.
- Battery - Common complaint, my books don't run out of battery
- Space - I can fit a paperback in my pocket.
- Durability - Both are ruined by water, but I can bang a paper book around pretty good and it's still readable. Even if I totally destroy a paper book, I'm only out the few dollars it cost me for that book [I buy most books used].
- Obsolesence - in 15, or 50 years I can give my books to my daughter or grandkids, and they'll be able to read them all or sell them to someone else to read [hopefully not :) ]. There's a good chance that the ebook I buy today won't be readable in 5 years let alone 50.
- DRM - as above, it's getting better if you can lend them, but when I'm done with my book I can give it to a friend, or sell it back to half-price books. Unless the ebook versions are *significantly* cheaper than the physical books, this is a problem for me. Every couple months I go to Half-Price Books, and pretty much buy their entire sci-fi/fantasy clearance section. I pay an average of about $3.00 for hardcover books and I still have the ability to give it away or sell it after I read it [though I prefer to keep my books]. Ebooks will need to compete with that pricing for me the consider it seriously.
- Physicality - This is a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it'd be great to have 1500 books in the space of one. On the other hand, I love the look of a wall full of books in my office. I love the different covers. I love the smell of the books.
- Disaster - If I were about to freeze to death, I could at least burn my books to keep warm. Can't do that with an ebook. :) Ok that's stretching a bit, and I'd probably spend so much time convincing myself to actually set a book on fire that I'd freeze first anyway.
I think the best thing that could happen, that would get me to buy one of the ebook readers, is if publishers started including the ebook along with the physical book. Obviously this would only be useful to the person who first purchased the book, but still allowing them to give/sell the physical book. And when I do buy a new book, I'd even be willing to pay an extra $1 or so to get the ebook to go along with it.
With all that said, this 'Nook reader looks very cool. If I found something like this on sale at a significant discount, I'd really consider getting one, even if I just used it to read the huge number of free books available via B&N and other sources. But at the current new price, I'd just as soon buy a bunch of paper books.
Nothing to see here
Disaster - If I were about to freeze to death, I could at least burn my books to keep warm. Can't do that with an ebook. :)
This concern is unfounded. Lithium-based batteries have been proven - in real world situations - to burn most excellently.
#DeleteChrome
- Durability - Both are ruined by water,
Sometimes. I've dried out a water-damaged book that was personally valuable to me, and it came out halfway decent. Perfect, no, but still quite readable.
I'd have to unlearn so many habits with eBooks. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to stop gripping my books in my teeth when I'm running out of hands, but I'd have to break myself of my habit of using a bad book to kill flies with. If I'm reading a book I dislike and a fly lands nearby, I'll whack it with the book. Oddly I reflexively won't do this if I'm enjoying the book. So all it'll take is one bad book and one fly and there goes the eBook reader. And if anyone sees me do it, there goes any attempt to live without having something insanely stupid to try live down.