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Just in time for end of the year gift shopping, Barnes and Nobel (BN.com) has launched it’s very own ebook reader.
It looks like a decent competitor for Amazon’s Kindle
and, at least at the moment the same, fairly high price – $259.
There’s even a .pdf spec sheet that compares the two side-by-side. The biggest difference seems to be that the Nook has a color touch screen. How useful that will turn out to be, and how it will affect battery life is unknown.
I’ve only gotten my hands on one Kindle. I was all set to buy one when Amazon unpublished George Orwell. As near as I can tell, what rights we readers have to material downloaded to our ebook readers is still unclear.
Frankly, ever since Booklocker sued Amazon I’ve been a bit suspicious of a company I used to love unreservedly. Their position on Orwell unnerved me. And of course we don’t know what BN’s attitude will be.
But the Nook also has something called LendMe™ which let’s you lend books you own to friends “up to 14 days for free” sounds good. I’d make it 30 days or even 60, but BN seems headed in the right direction.
The technology also allows you to read on other devices, including iPod and BlackBerry with BN’s free ebook reading software – another step in the right direction.
Will I buy a Nook? Not today, but I do like the things I’m reading. Next step is to find some reviews, or get BN to send me one for review… anyone know how to do that?
Write well and often,
Image from BN.com
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m curious about the Nook/Kindle machines for their eco-friendly position in the literary world, but I really like the feel of a book in my hand. For the same reason I still subscribe to the newspaper even though I could read articles online. I like the look and feel of the real paper in my hands. (I do recycle once I’m done!)
Books may turn out to be more eco friendly, and least on a book by book basis… the plastic, and electronics inside are hardly sustainable I would think. Of course, there’s probably some point where the ebook reader becomes more sustainable based on the number of books/newspapers etc… I never know how to figure these things out.
Anne, I used to make my living by knowing how to figure such things out. In this case, it’s a no brainer. I don’t even have to do the math. Get your books from the library. If they don’t have the book you want, ask for an interbranch or intersystem transfer, where available. No battery-eating, stealable, obsolescing, electricity-sucking, breakable electronic reader can compete with library books for economic and ecological efficiency. Fall back position: try a used book store.
Today’s recommendation: “An Instance of the Fingerpost,” by Iain Pears.
jorgekafkazar´s last blog ..Tenirax, Ch V
Yes, a book is more eco friendly. But for those who are more on the techy side a kindle or nook would be a great choice. Barns and nobles looks like they are the only people that have a chance at competing with the Kindle. Great job noble..
Kenneth Elliott | Digital Book Reader´s last blog ..PSP e-book Reader
Hi Kenneth… play station ebook readers? I’m so no longer an early adapter!
True, Kenneth, if you’re a lit major who has to do frequent searches for text strings and suchlike, an electronic reader with seeking capability is necessary. It’s a lot faster than scanning a book and then running it through Word or special software. And not all books are available from the library or used book stores. And some people have to have the latest stuff simply because “das ist niftlich.”
jorgekafkazar´s last blog ..Tenirax, Ch V
Yeah, their are ways to read ebooks on a PSP. All is needed is to transform the book into html format.
Kenneth Elliott | Digital Book Reader´s last blog ..PSP e-book Reader