Barnes and Noble just announced the Nook, a touchscreen COLOR based e-reader for $259 ($20 cheaper than a Kindle)

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/19/barnes-and-noble-nook-color-e-reader-out-tuesday-for-259-says/

10/19/2009 9:52:27 PM

you need a few of things to beat the kindle...

* decent price
* a shitton of books, including a lot of new releases
* a fuckton of battery life
* wireless sync
* easy interface

touch-screen and color are nice, but they're not that important if you're reading a damn book.

10/19/2009 10:02:35 PM

All I know is that when I read Clifford the Big Red Dog to my daughter on my Nook, she's not gonna have permanent learning disabilities cus she thinks every color is gray.

10/19/2009 10:06:58 PM

I had no idea that you could get international newspapers on the Kindle. Perfect for bathroom reading.

10/19/2009 10:07:51 PM

It's the e-ink that makes the kindle and other e-book readers cool.

Does this use it? Is it even possible in color?

10/19/2009 10:15:13 PM

man you guys are going to be super bummed when you find out that this device will have 2 screens
and the color/touch part will just be on the bottom

looks like clifford is still going to be grayscale for the immediate future

10/19/2009 10:21:35 PM

I never understood the value of these devices. A decade ago i would have said cool but now with so many small multi purpose devices...why?

It's my understanding that these devices are for reading e-books and depending on the device news?

10/19/2009 10:24:40 PM

^^ hey don't try to confuse me with the facts ok

10/19/2009 10:25:09 PM

^^^ That's what I was thinking.

^^ Much better than the multi purpose devices because the screen is sharper and can be read both in semi-darkness with no backlight and in sunlight, as if it was paper.

10/19/2009 10:28:09 PM

Quote :

"I never understood the value of these devices. A decade ago i would have said cool but now with so many small multi purpose devices...why?"

You don't have to pay $100/month for a Kindle to remain useful.
You don't have to recharge a Kindle every 5 hours.
You don't have to own a computer to manage your content.

Those are the big three that come to mind (I still agree with you though, I just read books on the iPhone and it works fine for me).

10/19/2009 10:38:46 PM

yeah, I have to agree with Noen. I use Kindle and Stanza for iPhone ebook reading, but there is definitive value for the older generation with ebook devices. Its accessible and doesn't require a big monthly committment.

10/19/2009 11:16:29 PM

Quote :

"I never understood the value of these devices. A decade ago i would have said cool but now with so many small multi purpose devices...why?"

The thing about eInk is no power is required to retain the image, so the batteries last ridiculously long. Also, the image looks more or less like print on paper. Much easier on the eyes than staring at a backlit screen for hours.

10/19/2009 11:42:29 PM

So how do you get new books on there? Does it have wifi capabilities? (i imagine so if you don't need a computer to manage your content)

I could see myself owning one if it had a extensive computer book availability.

10/19/2009 11:56:11 PM

ibt or if was made by Apple amirite

10/20/2009 12:02:45 AM

^^on the kindle, its whispernet, amazon's free delivery service over the sprint network. on this new B&N device, no one knows since everything we know about it is from a leaked add. we don't even really know the price or capabilities/specs

10/20/2009 12:04:12 AM

^do you have to be a sprint customer or is it completely free? I guess you mean its free to the user regardless of your service provider.

^^why would i buy this if apple made it? its a device to read books which I have no use for unless it had an extensive computer library as already stated. AMIRITE?

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 12:07 AM. Reason : .]

10/20/2009 12:05:34 AM

I welcome competition to the market. The iPod / Kindle both were innovative in what they had to offer. MP3 Players have come a long way since. I'd like to see where ePaper/eBook Readers move to.

No death, just evolution. Amazon is too smart to let it die.

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 12:13 AM. Reason : .]

10/20/2009 12:12:34 AM

Quote :

"All I know is that when I read Clifford the Big Red Dog to my daughter on my Nook, she's not gonna have permanent learning disabilities cus she thinks every color is gray"

this is why i love you, ken.

Quote :

"Much easier on the eyes than staring at a backlit screen for hours."

this is the main benefit (at least, to me) of ebook readers

10/20/2009 1:43:24 AM

Quote :

"I guess you mean its free to the user regardless of your service provider."

Yes, the Kindle has a 3G access card (Sprint) built in. You can download and manage content anywhere in the US. And there's no cost other than the device. That's why it's so damn expensive.

10/20/2009 1:57:34 AM

the Spring Alex


[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 8:36 AM. Reason : some hypothesize that this will be the B&N e-reader]

10/20/2009 8:24:56 AM

think i'm gonna get my dad something like this for christmas..need to learn more about them tho

10/20/2009 8:32:23 AM

i was thinking of getting a kindle, and i'm not really interested in this thing if it doesn't use eInk. i'm looking to reduce eye strain. i'd just read on my iphone otherwise.

10/20/2009 8:34:58 AM

someone explain how these things work as far as getting new books or whatever on it. can i put any pdf file on there? what's the cost for books?

10/20/2009 9:03:37 AM

For a Kindle? You can use it's built-in browser to order a book, or you can order it from Amazon's site on your computer. Wait a couple of minutes, and it's automatically downloaded to your Kindle, next time it's turned on.

Or you can use a sync cable.

They'll also convert documents for cheap and send them wirelessly to your Kindle, or let you use the sync cable to do it for free.

It's actually pretty nifty, since you're literally doing the pay-as-you-go thing. Plus new releases are like around $10, and others are much less.

10/20/2009 9:48:11 AM

Quote :

"you need a few of things to beat the kindle... * decent price * a shitton of books, including a lot of new releases * a fuckton of battery life * wireless sync * easy interface"

cheaper than a kindle. native pdf support. 10 hrs. wifi and ATT 3G. i dunno but probably with a dedicated touchscreen.

so done, done, done, done, and done.

10/20/2009 2:31:07 PM

Quote :

"you need a few of things to beat the kindle... * decent price * a shitton of books, including a lot of new releases * a fuckton of battery life * wireless sync * easy interface touch-screen and color are nice, but they're not that important if you're reading a damn book."

I don't think it's a "Kindle-Killer." What it is though, is competition. And that's exactly what they need right now. More and more e-readers will mean that companies have to provide specific features to compete, and competitive prices.

10/20/2009 5:25:10 PM

I am not into these things, but I just saw an ad for Sony's e-book reader.

How come that one isn't a Kindle-killer?

10/20/2009 6:01:59 PM

^ No wireless book purchases and poor screen quality.

10/20/2009 6:04:44 PM

I love how competing products come along and "death of xxx?" threads come up.

10/20/2009 6:12:54 PM

i especially love it when it's a superior product and it's fully warranted

10/20/2009 6:40:08 PM

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/10/barnes-noble-puts-android-on-an-e-reader-with-the-nook.ars]

After reading that, it seems to me that feature-wise, it’s better than the Kindle in every way. I like the form factor much better, and the battery life still seems pretty great.

The main thing still stopping me from getting an ebook reader is probably the low-contrast displays. And this would could stand to be a little lighter and thinner...

10/20/2009 7:33:25 PM

Didn't notice the actual B&N link yet but it's up now.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp

This has me really interested. I don't know what has changed because I always looked at the kindle as pretty pointless unless you just wanted to blow a few hundred. For some reason, I've really gotten into these lately though. Only things that I don't like is that it's on AT&T so the 3G coverage is going to suck in a lot of places (though I wonder if it will still download on edge?). It would be awesome if they would do some kind of "trade-in" program where they let you download the books that you own for free. Maybe even just looked up your B&N account (if you have one) and let you download all the books that you've bought from them in the past 2-3 years or something.

As is, wonder if it'll be available before I head to Vegas in 2 weeks....

*edit* whoops. Looks like it will be available. Supposed to be available Nov. 30th.

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 8:04 PM. Reason : .]

10/20/2009 8:01:49 PM

Quote :

"I am not into these things, but I just saw an ad for Sony's e-book reader. How come that one isn't a Kindle-killer?"

The sony daily reader is coming out in December (one on right). And it'll have free 3g and IMO the sony readers have a much better build and don't look all bloated as compared to the Kindle's keyboard.

Quote :

"^ No wireless book purchases and poor screen quality."

I don't know where you're getting this from. Have you even read any reviews? The Sony Pocket Reader has considerably better whites and contrast/crispness than the Kindle 2. I just got one and it's much crisper and much better in direct sunlight than the kindle 2. It also has an incredibly solid build and feels much better in my hands than a kindle 2.

One review:

Quote :

"The screen quality is comparable to the PRS-505, and considerably better than that of the Kindle 2. I'm somewhat puzzled by this, because there's only one e-ink technology on the market right now, and the manufacturers of the screens all license the same process, with the same quality control parameters (the parameters are part of the license agreement), so I don't really understand why the Kindle 2 screens seem to perform a notch or two below their competitors. I did read that Amazon made a decision to lighten the font image on the Kindle 2 (which owners of the Kindle 1 noted and complained about), so perhaps it's simply a software issue. However, I finally decided to ditch the Kindle 2 when I noted the screen image literally fading away in direct sunlight; this issue has been commented on by a number of users, and Amazon will happily provide a replacement Kindle for units that experience this."

Quote :

"The Sony Pocket Edition, though, has provided a much crisper screen image, with noticeably darker fonts, a whiter (lighter) screen background, almost no glare, and no funky fades, distortions, or other effects that inhibit reading. The clarity and comfort of reading the screen image is as good as (and sometimes better than) that of a physical book."

http://myportablebookreader.com/store/sony-readers/sony-digital-reader-pocket-edition-silver-prs300sc/

I don't care about wireless capabilities because i usually have my netbook and the Pocket acts just like a flash drive and i just drop a file onto it and it's ready to go. Supports PDF, DOC, epub (open format compared to kindles drm), etc.

http://gigaom.com/2009/08/13/with-sonys-epub-move-adobe-wins/

All for $199. Great device.

[Edited on October 20, 2009 at 9:34 PM. Reason : .]

10/20/2009 9:05:01 PM

ill still wait till they fit e-ink on a scroll, something like this but thinner and flexible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-A8LMTVqAo

10/20/2009 9:46:18 PM

I think I might be sold on the nook.

PDF's? Check
WiFi+memory card? Check
Open platform? Android - Check
3G? Check

Have to wait until it actually launches and see if it lives up to the specs, but I might have one of these under the tree

10/20/2009 11:13:01 PM

^ agreed

10/21/2009 1:07:46 AM

yup, i'm down

10/21/2009 1:10:47 AM

If they can put a small web browser on it (Wifi only, of course, wouldn't want to give up the ease of downloading by pissing off AT&T) I'll be sold.

10/21/2009 2:10:48 PM

Reviewed

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/07/barnes-and-noble-nook-review/

I'm a bit disappointed, looks like the performance is a bit sluggish. I was looking forward to this one.

Still would probably get this over a Kindle if I really wanted a reader, but I'll probably wait until the next version to get any ebook reader.

12/7/2009 9:17:40 PM

still looking to get my dad something like this for christmas and need to do some more research..

should i just wait for the next holiday for something better or go for a kindle or what? he reads a shit ton of books.. like 4-5 a week at most, 2-3 at the least so the cost for books, however that works, is very important.

[Edited on December 7, 2009 at 9:27 PM. Reason : asdf]

12/7/2009 9:20:21 PM

Personally I think the Kindle is ugly as sin and would get the Sony reader over it also.

The nook is technically out now I think, and you can find them in store if you're really lucky, but most people who order now won't get it until Jan 11.

12/7/2009 9:31:04 PM

jesus e-books are expensive

f that shit. e-reader idea is dropped

12/7/2009 9:47:56 PM

^^ B&N said that there won't be any in-store shipments for this calendar year.

And after all of this hype, no, this won't be the death of the Kindle.

12/7/2009 10:09:20 PM

e-books are a good bit cheaper than the books themselves. if your dad is buying all those books he's reading, he would save a shit ton of money in the first few months. not to mention what he would save a year.

Also, you can check e-books out at the library.

12/7/2009 10:14:59 PM

I got one mostly for the portability and accessibility to new content. For pleasure reading, I love my first-gen Kindle. I know that I paid a lot of money for the device, but my reasoning is that I'll never have to pack any books for trips again. And I have all of the content I'll ever want right there, easily downloaded over the air. Fuck plugging in, Sony.

12/7/2009 10:18:08 PM

i'm still asking for the kindle for xmas since it runs off the sprint network. i have an iphone, on at&t of course, and being in rocky mount and almost anywhere east of i-95, the coverage is shit. definitely no 3g, and you're lucky if you find edge outside of RM & red oak city limits. i haven't had a sprint phone in a long time, but i've heard their coverage is better out here than at&t. not as good as verizon though. verizon is awesome out here.

[Edited on December 8, 2009 at 8:29 AM. Reason : ]

12/8/2009 8:29:01 AM

Quote :

"Also, you can check e-books out at the library."

he's been getting books from the library lately bc they were getting so expensive.. so, if he can get e-books there then maybe that'll work. i need to do some reading on how it works

12/8/2009 8:41:49 AM

Quote :

"Also, you can check e-books out at the library"

how do you do this?

12/8/2009 9:58:58 AM

It depends on where you're at, I may have jumped the gun a little. Most libraries have access to things like netLibrary, Gale Virtual reference, etc. Those are mostly non-fiction though, and academic. But more and more public libraries are carrying fiction e-books in both pdf and e-pub format. I know nypl has a large selection, a friend in Denver said they have a good selection, and I've seen other places as well.

The last I talked to a wake county librarian about it, he said they were planning on adding a lot of e-books in the first quarter of this coming yr.

[Edited on December 8, 2009 at 11:42 AM. Reason : .]

12/8/2009 11:41:55 AM

do you know if you can download books from the nypl? I wouldn't mind paying for a library card if I knew the books would work on my kindle

12/8/2009 11:59:01 AM