Geeky Mom: Will the Nook be a Kindle killer?
by A few days ago I wrote a post all about e-books.
The slim Nook can store as many as 1,500 e-books, newspapers, and magazines and with an added memory card you can keep up to 17,500. The cost for an e-book is about $9.99 and thousands of titles are free at the Barnes & Noble eBookstore. The Nook works on the 3G network and with WiFi.
The Nook features crisp B&W text. I haven't held a Nook in my hands, but after viewing the promotional videos I think the PR buzz is correct. I am disappointed that it does not feature color image/text of an entire book page. Full color pages would be so useful when viewing textbooks and books featuring rich graphics. (I predict digital textbooks are going to big the next big wave in e-books.) But it does have a colorful touchscreen at the bottom of the screen to help you select the book you want to read.
Features I like include the ability to make text bigger (5 different font sizes) and easily bookmark, highlight passages and make notes as you go. Also the E-Ink by VizPlex offers enough contrast (16-bit gray scale) so there is no glare or backlight making it easy on the eyes. You can adjust the screen lighting to fit the situation.
One of the unusual features of the Nook is you can share books from your nook with your friends for free for about 14 days at a time with the Nook's LendMe technology. The lending policy reminds me of the public library policy for lending e-books. All you have to do is send the book file to your friend's iPhone, iPod touch, laptop, select BlackBerry and other smart phones. Wonder how the book publishers feel about the free e-book lending? (More about the issue of intellectual property rights of authors in a SF Chronicle by Michelle Richmond.)
I'm a news junkie so the access to over 20 million newspaper subscriptions sounds great. Note that reading newspapers on the Nook is not free. I do love the NYT, WSJ, and Newsweek. Subscribing to them and a dozen more would be a huge temptation.
What's next on the horizon?
I'm waiting for the Apple's new e-reader tablet--an overgrown iPod. Unfortunately the Apple option won't be cheap at $700 or more when it is released in a few months. The price really turns me off because I was hoping this tablet would be a good choice for kids/teens, but at $700-$900 I am even nervous to carry it around in my backpack/purse. The Apple eReader-and-more is rumored to run iPhone OS and play MP3 audio files and videos. So cool. Just hoping the price drops soon.
Posted In
- Books |
- Mommy & Family |
- Tech
XML Feed Recent Comments
We have provide cheap on post Book Lists?
I'm doing an article
now on on post Cheap, green, and easy ways to spend less on the holidays -- without feeling deprived
now on on post Cheap, green, and easy ways to spend less on the holidays -- without feeling deprived
Bad Sex Written on post Writing Sex
BlogHer Conferences
- Home
- About Us
- BlogHer Community
- Conferences
- BlogHer Network
- Special Offers
- Contact Us
Follow us on Twitter:
@blogher @bloghersupport @blogherdeals
Become a Facebook Fan
© Copyright 2009 BlogHer | Terms of Service
Comments
I don't think so but...
once I heard about the LendMe feature, I was much more impressed with this new e-Reader.
I'm still having sticker shock over these devices. The price on all of them needs to come way, way down.
~Denise BlogHer Community Manager
Flamingo House Happenings
You kind of can share...
And yes, legally. Right before reading this post I had been reading another one that talked about it.
Readers Have Rights Too. Essentially if you share an Amazon account with someone you are allowed x number of downloads to different devices, which means that you can kind of share books too.
Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
I don't think so either...
But I don't think so in part because it's proprietory. OPEN THOSE SUCKERS UP PEOPLE. I don't want to be tied to Amazon, or B&N or Fictionwise. I want to be able to buy from all of them. I really don't think that's asking too much. Proprietory is the wrong direction IMO.
Like the Lend Me though.
Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
Simon and Schuster isn't a fan of lending
e-books at libraries
Lending books is a controversial topic in the pub biz. The concept of e-books in libraries is not popular with all authors and their publishers including Stephen King and Bob Woodward. Simon & Schuster has refrained from distributing e-books to libraries. Most libraries only allow a short two-week loan on digital books and that appears to be similar to the B&N policy. I am hoping more authors and readers will support e-books as the book hybrid for a healthier planet.
-- Chris--MomathonBlog.com
See I don't get that at all
By that same standard they shouldn't like libraries stocking physical copies of the books either. Sure, copying a book on a computer isn't particularly difficult, even with DRM slapped on it (I wouldn't know, I've only read and it honestly doens't sound that difficult). But there's no guarantee that I'm not off scanning or photocopying the books I borrow from the library and distributing it to all my friends either. Sure, easier and faster online but no guarantees right?
I like e-books, though they'll never fully replace physical books for me. I hate restrictive DRM, andI don't think it stops pirating (or really slows them down) but just punishes people like me and a whole bunch of others who are honest and purchase legally (or legally borrow from the library) and then struggle to make them work with our devices. It makes me NOT want to use them.
Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.