[starman]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet. Due out today after 4pm, the B&N Nook is their direct competitor to the Kindle. While I'm still not an eBook reader fan, this thing has me considering it. $249, dual-screen (B&W top, color bottom), web browser, direct PDF support (rumored Office doc support), 3G, wireless, BOOK SHARING, and other goodies, this thing may show up the Kindle.

[The Final Dakar]

Eh, the Kindle isn't that big of a deal, really. I'm not surprised this is flying under the radar for all but a select few.

[shifuimam]

I thought the Kindle and all eBook readers were going to be an epic fail and nobody would ever possibly in a million eleventy trillion years want one?

[slugslugslug]

I think it looks substantially more awesome than most of what’s out there now. I think Plastic Logic’s upcoming QUEreader looks super cool too, but I have a feeling it’s going to be really pricey. I can see a lot of uses for eReaders for a lot of people, and I think eventually they’ll be really common.

But it’s going to take much longer than with music players. As others have been saying, recorded music has always required a device to play it besides whatever substrate it came on; whereas when you have a book, you don’t need anything else to use it.

Anyway, I’m going to keep a close eye on this one. If it handles PDFs well, and especially if it’ll use the color to display parts of them, it could well be worthwhile for me.

But of course, I’m not buying any dedicated reading device until I see how The Tablet ends up.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by starman 

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet. Due out today after 4pm, the B&N Nook is their direct competitor to the Kindle. While I'm still not an eBook reader fan, this thing has me considering it. $249, dual-screen (B&W top, color bottom), web browser, direct PDF support (rumored Office doc support), 3G, wireless, BOOK SHARING, and other goodies, this thing may show up the Kindle.

The big feature, if it works out, is native PDF support. If I could read working papers and journal article downloads on a reader, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. My wife has a second-gen Sony, and it's practically useless (except for BOUGHT content -- stupid).

[Chuckit]

$250 for the privilege of reading books — plus you still have to pay the full print price for all of them. It's like the opposite of a library card.

[paul w]

I know! And why buy an iPod when you can get a discman for like 10 dollars!!!

[ort888]

These things will be big... but not yet. When they cost $100 or less and the media also comes down in price.

[starman]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I thought the Kindle and all eBook readers were going to be an epic fail and nobody would ever possibly in a million eleventy trillion years want one?

I couldn't resist the urge to bait you.

Be sure and write a whole 7 paragraph blog post about this.

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

$250 for the privilege of reading books — plus you still have to pay the full print price for all of them. It's like the opposite of a library card.

Awesome comment.

I find the iPhone to be great for reading public domain works, but I can't imagine buying a digital book. I spend hours in bookstores browsing for worthwhile reads. Buying a digital book sight unseen? Not for me.

[lpkmckenna]

Originally Posted by finboy 

The big feature, if it works out, is native PDF support. If I could read working papers and journal article downloads on a reader, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. My wife has a second-gen Sony, and it's practically useless (except for BOUGHT content -- stupid).

I can't understand the attraction of PDF books. I'd rather have the option of changing the font and background like I can with typical ebook formats.

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

$250 for the privilege of reading books — plus you still have to pay the full print price for all of them. It's like the opposite of a library card.

hilarious.

[hyteckit]

Here's the nook.

Nook, eBook Reader, eBook Device - Barnes & Noble

Waiting for the vook and fook to come out.

[starman]

I'm waiting for the mini-Nook to come out.

The "Nookie"

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by paul w 

I know! And why buy an iPod when you can get a discman for like 10 dollars!!!

It's feasible to listen to many CDs' worth of songs in one day, but I'm unlikely to read several novels in the same length of time.

Also, I guess I might change my tune if the books all cost 99¢. I wanted to include a comparison of the prices for several eBooks, but none of my favorite books are on there at all. Oh, I finally found an actual book on there: Twilight. Awful, but a fair basis for comparison. It would cost $2 more for me to download Twilight onto a Nook than to order it from Amazon and have it delivered to my door via ground shipping. To show it's not a fluke, here's another one: Darkly Dreaming Dexter. $11.20 for the B&N eBook, $7.99 on Amazon.

Apple offered something unique and actually a pretty good value proposition with the iPod. I guess the Nook is OK if you're in the market for a portable Web browsing device, but for reading books? Not seeing the value.

[starman]

The ONLY thing I can see an e-Reader for is reference books, but then, you might as well use a computer to read them since if you want to copy/paste code it's not going to help when the doc's on an e-Reader.

But yeah, I have to agree with Chuckit. Who carries around their entire book collection? Reading books is not passive like listening to music. Getting items delivered in the morning seems fairly attractive, but not practical until it's in color and on a bigger screen, but once you get into an 8-1/2x11 color screen, you get into cost issues and carrying around a large device.

Yeah, not getting it. Still.

[slugslugslug]

I used to often take 6–10 books out of the library at a time, and I’d be reading 2 or 3 at a time. More, if any were anthologies or reference books. For some folks I’m sure it’s great to not have to decide which books to bring with you.

Also, a kinda cool feature that pretty much all the competitors lack: if you’re on Wi-fi at a B&N location, you can read any book in their catalog for free. Of course, you can do that with the physical books on their shelf, but if there’s something that’s out of stock and in the eBook catalog, it’s pretty cool.

But the pricing thing and the DRM are a downer. For some reason I’d thought electronic versions were cheaper than the physical ones, but if not, that’s pretty annoying.

[starman]

I will say this, there are some books I still own but they're in the attic. It would be nice to consolidate them into a digital form (albeit - DRM-free).

[ort888]

It's also a terrible name. Has anyone mentioned that? This is a "Nook" (or nuk) to 95% of the population. Why would you give your hi-tech device a name strongly associated with baby pacifiers?

[The Final Dakar]

Consider me one of the 5% who thinks nook refers to a small out of the way storage space.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by starman 

I'm waiting for the mini-Nook to come out.

The "Nookie"

It would at the very least catapult Limp Bizkit back to relevance again.

[ort888]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Consider me one of the 5% who thinks nook refers to a small out of the way storage space.

I'm talking about referring to a product. I bought a "nook" last week, or hey, hand me my "nook".

It means both things to me as well.

[The Final Dakar]

My guess is only people with kids are going to make that connection. Granted that's a large chunk of the population, but still.

[SpaceMonkey]

They should have called it the Binkie, to snag parents, children, and ravers.

[paul w]

Originally Posted by Chuckit 

It's feasible to listen to many CDs' worth of songs in one day, but I'm unlikely to read several novels in the same length of time.

Also, I guess I might change my tune if the books all cost 99¢. I wanted to include a comparison of the prices for several eBooks, but none of my favorite books are on there at all. Oh, I finally found an actual book on there: Twilight. Awful, but a fair basis for comparison. It would cost $2 more for me to download Twilight onto a Nook than to order it from Amazon and have it delivered to my door via ground shipping. To show it's not a fluke, here's another one: Darkly Dreaming Dexter. $11.20 for the B&N eBook, $7.99 on Amazon.


Apple offered something unique and actually a pretty good value proposition with the iPod. I guess the Nook is OK if you're in the market for a portable Web browsing device, but for reading books? Not seeing the value.

Nonsense. I will agree that if the B&N prices arer higher it's going to hinder the thing, but Kindle prices are ok. For new books that I'm likely to buy and read once it's fantastic. And yes, plenty of people read from different books at the same time, for different reasons. And people travel and spend extended periods of time away from home or a bookstore or library.

The Kindle comparisons to the ipod/apple model are so obvious (convenience and digital mobility vs hardcopy bought in a store) it's hard to imagine you'd miss it. If this can improve on that model great. I'd guess, like all things, prices will continue to come down until it hits the sweet spot of success, or it will fail.

[RAILhead]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Consider me one of the 5% who thinks nook refers to a small out of the way storage space.

Ditto. I've never heard of nook as a pacifier.

[ort888]

NUK� USA Understanding Life

It might be a regional thing. A nook or nookie is a pacifier. NUK is also a company that sells baby crap.

[olePigeon]

I hate the idea all together. When I buy a book, I get to keep it. With the Kindle, you sort of rent the book. If Amazon decides you don't get to keep it, they delete it.

What happens to all your eBooks once you stop your subscription?

[ort888]

Originally Posted by olePigeon 

I hate the idea all together. When I buy a book, I get to keep it. With the Kindle, you sort of rent the book. If Amazon decides you don't get to keep it, they delete it.

What happens to all your eBooks once you stop your subscription?

Hasn't this only happened a few times? Like when 3rd-party resellers were selling books they didn't actually have a right to sell?

I dunno. You kind of sound like that old curmudgeon who complains about iPods and MP3s.

You might not like it, but this is the future of media. It's going to take a few years for the tech to get appealing enough and down to a mass market price, but this is going to be it.

Someone needs to make one with a color screen and killer battery life that costs less then $100 bucks. It'll probably take a few years, but it will come.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by ort888 

I dunno. You kind of sound like that old curmudgeon who complains about iPods and MP3s.

I like iPods and MP3s. Apple doesn't delete my MP3s. Microsoft, on the other hand, deletes songs from people's Zunes when the song is no longer available on their catalog.

Originally Posted by ort888 

You might not like it, but this is the future of media. It's going to take a few years for the tech to get appealing enough and down to a mass market price, but this is going to be it.

Hopefully paper books will still be sold.

Originally Posted by ort888 

Someone needs to make one with a color screen and killer battery life that costs less then $100 bucks. It'll probably take a few years, but it will come.

Color e-Ink is very expensive, despite being developed back in 2005.

[paul w]

People act like they have endless space for all kinds of forgettable mediocre books they don't ever want to read again anyway. Or that we all go to the libraries all the time because of their convenient locations and excellent and abundant selection of new books.

I buy some books in paper form, other in Kindle. I don't spend more money, really, but I have less books to throw/give away.

The concept works, regardless of Amazon's B&N's DRM, or pricing.

[ort888]

Of course paper books will still be sold. You can still buy CDs and vinyl.

Of course color e-ink is expensive. Everything starts out expensive and gets cheaper.

I think you are overstating the deleting problem. It happened once... with some books that the seller had no right to sell and Amazon gave people gift cards in return. Not a big deal.

[starman]

Here's where the Apple/Kindle simiarities end:

1) When you buy a book, it gets sent to your Kindle FIRST. Although you can now buy directly from your iPhone/iPod Touch, you couldn't before, and having the media on the computer first means it's less likely to get lost if your device gets lost/stolen. Amazon does have a "Manage my Kindle" option, but it's not automatic and passive like iTunes is.

2) Is there a Kindle reader for Windows/Mac? No. Moving on.

3) You can't use a DRM'd book from one device on one from a competitor. iTunes allowed you to export you old M4P files to CD and then re-rip, but you can't do that with a Kindle. However, now there's no DRM at all so the point is moot and the analogy fails. Books need to lose their DRM.

4) The Kindle has to convert external types, types that are standard in the real world (like Word, PDF). iTunes has everything built in.

So if you think the comparison between the two is close, think about the points above.

[Chuckit]

Originally Posted by ort888 

It's also a terrible name. Has anyone mentioned that? This is a "Nook" (or nuk) to 95% of the population. Why would you give your hi-tech device a name strongly associated with baby pacifiers?

It comes from the phrase "reading nook." I'm pretty sure that's a more established usage than "nook" for "pacifier."

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by ort888 

It's also a terrible name. Has anyone mentioned that? This is a "Nook" (or nuk) to 95% of the population. Why would you give your hi-tech device a name strongly associated with baby pacifiers?

95% of the population is not familiar with "a corner or recess, especially one offering seclusion or security"? As in "nook and cranny?" Really. (I've always heard the name of the pacifier pronounced with a short 'u' sound, to rhyme with "tuck.")

[ort888]

Either way it's a dumb name.

Obviously I was way off with my 95% number.

Look, I've got a two month old... my entire world revolves around this little pink ball and chain. Cut me some slack.

[The Final Dakar]

Hey, you shoulda kept it in your pants buddy.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Either way it's a dumb name.

Obviously I was way off with my 95% number.

Look, I've got a two month old... my entire world revolves around this little pink ball and chain. Cut me some slack.

You get a pass because of your situation. It gets better, really. But that takes time.

I agree it's a dumb name, but for different reasons (obviously). It's way too silly, for starters.

[Chuckit]

To be honest, I always thought "iPod" was a retarded name ("pod" makes me think of peas and body snatchers), but they've done all right with themselves.

[olePigeon]

I thought MacBook was a dumb name, but it's grown on me.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Either way it's a dumb name.

Obviously I was way off with my 95% number.

Look, I've got a two month old... my entire world revolves around this little pink ball and chain. Cut me some slack.

My hometown bookshop was "The Book Nook" for years and years and years. Until Amazon, at least.

When I was in college, "nook" had a completely different meaning. I guess things change, but I could never imagine a product named that.

And, congrats -- your priorities are in the right place!

[ort888]

Wait? What's that? You all want to see a picture of my baby? No? You don't?

Well too ****ing bad.



BAM.

[ghporter]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Wait? What's that? You all want to see a picture of my baby?

Of COURSE we want to see the picture. But we don't want to be pushy-you may be working on the ultimate baby picture and not want us to nudge your elbow...

[Paco500]

I'm very mixed about the whole ebook thing. It's a bit irrelevant for me now, as I wouldn't consider anything but the kindle or the nook at this point and I can't get them in the UK, but there is some appeal.

I ride the train several hours two or three days a week and having a newspaper I can read with one hand delivered every morning has some appeal. I also fly quite a bit a read low-brow lit on planes (currently about halfway through the Terry Pratchett discworld books) as I can't concentrate on anything heavy, and a e-book would be great for that.

I don't really mind the cost of the device- I get that you have to pay for new tech, but the cost of books is all wrong. If they were at least nominally cheaper than paper, I'd get on board, but paying the same or more? That seems wrong.

[paul w]

Originally Posted by Paco500 

the cost of books is all wrong. If they were at least nominally cheaper than paper, I'd get on board, but paying the same or more? That seems wrong.

Note that the Kindle version has a free sample, and the whole thing downloads in under a minute. Just saying.

[ort888]

Reading is too hard. I'm waiting for an device that takes an entire book and converts it down to 140 characters or less.

[The Final Dakar]

If its worth reading they'll make a movie out of it. That's why there's a facebook movie, right?

[Paco500]

Originally Posted by paul w 

Note that the Kindle version has a free sample, and the whole thing downloads in under a minute. Just saying.

Touche. I have fallen prey to uniformed fud. Perhaps if they every make it across the pond, I'll jump in.

[The Final Dakar]

You'll jump in the pond?

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by ort888 

Someone needs to make one with a color screen and killer battery life that costs less then $100 bucks. It'll probably take a few years, but it will come.

You read color books?