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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."
What e-books need is not a kindle-killer but a dead-tree-killer.
Just need something that forces Amazon to keep innovating and keep pricing competitive.
Thanks, B&N!
Perhaps it is my slashdot bias, but the story about Kindles having books removed from readers' machines still strikes a sour chord with me. I recognize that most consumers don't know a thing about and many don't care. I don't see much difference between book burning and book deleting. To me the reasons, are irrelevant. Abuse will always emerge when opportunity is given.
Amazon's reluctance to let the gadget out of the US market earlier makes the Kindle just another e-book reader, it has no iconic status that would warrant the "killer" adjective for any competitors, who are competing against it in equal footing pretty much everywhere.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
A book offers permanence. Books are created so the only infrastructure required to receive the information within is your brain. And how can you get rid of books authorities no longer like? Well, because of the light infrastructure requirements, you CAN'T. No book burning has ever deleted an entire work from the culture.
But if a corporation decides to "burn" an e-reader book, can they? They sure CAN! And the book will be gone with no chance of ever discovering an unburnt copy.
Sorry, no. The function I want is PERMANENCE. That cannot be built into an e-reader.
Could someone please explain the advantage of a dedicated e-book reader? I don't understand why I would buy either when I can get a netbook for $50 more (at worst) that can read both PDFs and Amazon e-books. Is it the battery life of these things, or is the hardware form factor really nice? I don't know.
The battery life is generally rated in days, as opposed to hours.
They are typically shaped more like a book or slate, and less like a laptop. A netbook is going to have the keyboard sticking out of the bottom and the screen is oriented horizontally rather than vertically.
The e-ink screen is more like a printed page, and easier to read under similar lighting conditions. LCDs typically have problems with bright light, and can cause eye strain after prolonged reading.
Both the Kindle and the nook offer free 3G to purchase ebooks, which your netbook probably wouldn't.
If you don't read much and you just want something that can display a PDF, obviously an ebook reader isn't going to be necessary. Just throw it at your computer.
But if you read for recreation, an ebook reader can be very nice. It allows you to condense a huge book into a very small and portable form factor. It allows you to carry a large selection of books with you. It allows you to quickly and easily purchase more books without having to locate the nearest bookstore. And it is designed to allow you to keep reading for hour after hour, day after day.
"Work is the curse of the drinking classes." -Oscar Wilde
No book burning has ever deleted an entire work from the culture.
Are you sure no works died with the Library of Alexandria?