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Barnes & Noble's Nook, Reviewed
harrymcc writes "Barnes & Noble's Nook — the most significant e-reader since Amazon's original Kindle — hits B&N's retail stores today. I've published an extensive review of the device, which is also the first e-reader to run Google's Android OS: It's an interesting and capable gadget in many ways, but the interface — which is sluggish and somewhat quirky — isn't polished enough to render it a Kindle killer."
Speaking as someone not living in the US ... and hence out of the AT&T whispernet, the fact that this can work over WiFi is a huge plus.
I live in Norway, and my Kindle works just fine with the cell network here for downloading books etc.
Try clicking on the rather prominent "Live outside the US" link. The Kindle has been available outside the US with international 3G internet support for months now.
The Kindle does have one disadvantage that is making me give the Nook a stronger look.
PDF's.
I buy a lot of Role Playing materials from Steve Jackson Games' "e23" site. They are in very high quality PDF documents and something that can display them without having to lug around a large, heavy, and massively power hungry laptop is a god send.
However, even though I legally own a copy of the PDF, Amazon refused to convert the PDF into a Kindle Ready file due to (as I was informed) copyright issues.
The Nook supports PDF out of the box and the internal file storage as well as the expansion slot gives me the room for all of the PDF's that I have.
So while it might not be a Kindle Killer, it has some features that put it close enough to the Kindle to make it a worthwhile contender.
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
There was new firmware recently released (Amazon release notes) that adds, among other things like longer battery life, native PDF reader support to the Kindle 2. (Note, the Kindle DX had native PDF support since it was released months ago.)
Like pi? Try 10,000 digits.
The review mentions AT&T 3G, but I couldn't find any mention of whether a new AT&T contract is required to buy the device at the stated price. If it is, then fsck that. If it isn't, then 'meh'. Its still pretty expensive. Wait for v 2.0.
No new contract, no bills at all. The 3G is free, just like the Kindle's.
Also, if one plugs its USB in, does it appear as 'USB storage', that one can copy PDF's to and be able to read them? Or is one required to use its proprietary software on a proprietary platform to load only special files with DRM?
No idea how it works with USB as I don't have one yet, but it does read SD cards... So you could always just throw your files on an SD card to avoid whatever software they think you should be using.
It will read PDFs and EPUB documents - both of which are more open than what Barnes & Noble is using now. Barnes & Noble has indicated that they plan to move their entire ebook store over to EPUB eventually.
And how about on wifi? Can one use any sort of standard protocol (ssh, ftp, smb) to copy PDF's in (or out) and/or can it navigate to an arbitrary URL and download a PDF, or does it only support the device accessing company-specified websites to 'buy' books?
Again, I can't say because I don't have one yet... But it sounds like the WiFi is fairly limited at the moment. There is no web browser and I don't believe you can transfer anything wirelessly... Except for maybe accessing the B&N bookstore over WiFi.
Bottom line - Mandatory contract bad. Mandatory proprietary software bad.
The reason I chose a nook instead of a Kindle is the relative openness of the platform. With the SD cards and support for PDF and EPUB format, I figure I can use this thing with basically any content I want - even stuff Barnes & Noble doesn't sell or support. And with the Wi-Fi I can probably maintain my connectivity even if B&N kills the 3G for some reason. And the user-replaceable battery means I don't have to go to great lengths just because the battery is old and flaky - unlike the Kindle.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
But I'm hopeful. How long did it take before Apple had to allow non-AAC audio files to play on the first-gen iPods? They only did that because other companies started making players that would play the widely available mp3 files.
iPods were released before the iTunes store, so they have been able to play MP3s even longer than protected AACs.
I'm going to kill my mod points for this discussion to say emphatically that this comment is NOT INSIGHTFUL, and borders on being deceitful. I hate to cite Wikipedia as a source, but look here for the reasons to recycle paper, even if you believe you're doing the environment some good by landfilling your paper refuse:
I'm not even going to bother going into how juvenile it is to assume that throwing a piece of paper in the trash==composting it (or that the other organic bits like banana peels and carrot tops don't do a much better and faster job of it than paper would).