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Comments: 542 +- Technology: The Kindle Killer Arrives on Tuesday October 20, @02:47PM
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kdawson
on Tuesday October 20, @02:47PM
from the got-wi-fi dept.
from the got-wi-fi dept.
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GeekZilla sends coverage from Wired's Gadget Lab on the Nook, Barnes & Noble's first e-book reader. "Sleek, stylish and runs the Android OS. What's not to like about Barnes and Noble's new e-book reader? Despite the odd name, the Nook looks like an eBook reader that would actually be a worthwhile investment. Best feature? The ability to loan e-books you have downloaded to other Nook owners. The reader, named the 'Nook,' looks a lot like Amazon's white plastic e-book, only instead of the chiclet-keyboard there is a color multi-touch screen, to be used as both a keyboard or to browse books, cover-flow style. The machine runs Google's Android OS, will have wireless capability from an unspecified carrier, and comes in at the same $260 as the now rather old-fashioned-looking Kindle." Here is the B&N Nook site, which is still not visible on their front page and has a few non-working links. (Nook.com isn't set up yet.) Their comparison page takes dead aim at the Kindle. Among the advantages in the Nook's column: Wi-Fi, expandable memory via microSD, MP3 player, and PDF compatibility. (But remember the cautionary note B&N struck six years back when they got out of the e-book business.)
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i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:4, Insightful)
i'll buy the paper books or download them on my iphone via the kindle or B&N reader apps. loaning books sounds like a good option and i hope they bring it to the B&N iphone app. with websites like Goodreads that link to facebook, it can be a viral marketing strategy
Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:4, Interesting)
Having said that, I'm still not ready to jump on the e-book bandwagon. The price is still a tad high, and there's too much uncertainty with the distribution models out there, like Amazon's deal with being able to arbitrarily revoke access to your own books and whatnot. Once they can give me a standard open e-book format that allows me to download books from anywhere, for pay or not, and keep them forever, and once they sell the readers at sub-$200 prices, I'll probably take the plunge.
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An iPod touch is the better reader. Cheaper, too. (Score:5, Informative)
I've read more than 120 books now on my iPod touch (which is very much an iPhone with no phone), no problems. Yes, a larger screen would be nice and you have to set a sensible brightness level (too bright in a rather dark environment is bad) but mostly I just forget that I'm reading on an electronic device and not a real book. I just read. There's not much more to say here, I'd say. I think the e-ink displays are overrated. They may have some slight advantages but they're far from perfect.
And the iPod has the advantage of being small and light enough to be safely held in one hand and to go into any pocket, which is great. And compared to most ebook readers the iPod is cheap. And it can be *so* much more than just an ebook reader.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Insightful)
i'm not paying $250 to buy books
That's not really that much. I spent more than that on my bookshelves, and they're not even portable.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Funny)
My cardboard boxes are free. Of course, they can't be used to show off how intellectual I am.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Interesting)
I would have agreed with you until I got a Kindle as a present. I have started reading a lot more because of it. Its e-ink screen is much better than an iPhone (I don't want a flashlight shining directly into my eyes when I read at night). When I travel, its size is great (fits in my bag much more easily than a paperback).
Also, I find downloading e-books more convenient than acquiring physical copies of books.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Interesting)
These will be instantly obsolete when someone (Apple?) perfects the tablet, single purpose devices won't be competitive.
This right here is one of my main problems with ebooks. Lets face it, I'm a total technogeek. But I have a real issue moving forward with ebooks. I fully understand that these concerns don't apply to everyone, but here are MYcurrent reasons for sticking with paper books, instead of spending money on an ebook reader, and the ebooks themselves.
- Battery - Common complaint, my books don't run out of battery
- Space - I can fit a paperback in my pocket.
- Durability - Both are ruined by water, but I can bang a paper book around pretty good and it's still readable. Even if I totally destroy a paper book, I'm only out the few dollars it cost me for that book [I buy most books used].
- Obsolesence - in 15, or 50 years I can give my books to my daughter or grandkids, and they'll be able to read them all or sell them to someone else to read [hopefully not :) ]. There's a good chance that the ebook I buy today won't be readable in 5 years let alone 50.
- DRM - as above, it's getting better if you can lend them, but when I'm done with my book I can give it to a friend, or sell it back to half-price books. Unless the ebook versions are *significantly* cheaper than the physical books, this is a problem for me. Every couple months I go to Half-Price Books, and pretty much buy their entire sci-fi/fantasy clearance section. I pay an average of about $3.00 for hardcover books and I still have the ability to give it away or sell it after I read it [though I prefer to keep my books]. Ebooks will need to compete with that pricing for me the consider it seriously.
- Physicality - This is a double-edge sword. On the one hand, it'd be great to have 1500 books in the space of one. On the other hand, I love the look of a wall full of books in my office. I love the different covers. I love the smell of the books.
- Disaster - If I were about to freeze to death, I could at least burn my books to keep warm. Can't do that with an ebook. :) Ok that's stretching a bit, and I'd probably spend so much time convincing myself to actually set a book on fire that I'd freeze first anyway.
I think the best thing that could happen, that would get me to buy one of the ebook readers, is if publishers started including the ebook along with the physical book. Obviously this would only be useful to the person who first purchased the book, but still allowing them to give/sell the physical book. And when I do buy a new book, I'd even be willing to pay an extra $1 or so to get the ebook to go along with it.
With all that said, this 'Nook reader looks very cool. If I found something like this on sale at a significant discount, I'd really consider getting one, even if I just used it to read the huge number of free books available via B&N and other sources. But at the current new price, I'd just as soon buy a bunch of paper books.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:4, Informative)
- Services - A book can't deliver the newspaper to you, without any need for intervention, or killing trees.
- Search - e-books make it really easy to find that quote you're looking for.
- Dictionary - A good e-reader lets you instantly lookup a word that you don't fully understand, in my opinion enhancing overall enjoyment of the book.
- Book price - If/when bookstores start doing things as they should be done, e-books will be much cheaper than a new, retail copy of a book.
- As XKCD happily pointed out, a 3G-enabled e-reader is essentially The Guide [xkcd.com]
- Obsolescence - Most books sold for this will be in
Also, I'm trying to talk myself into buying one of these things. It's just so damn cool. Now, by no means will I stop buying new books, or get rid of my old ones, but I also won't feel any guilt pirating/fair use-ing e-books of books that I own or buy. Plus, there's lots of good, freely available e-books out there, even if you don't count Project Gutenberg.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Funny)
Disaster - If I were about to freeze to death, I could at least burn my books to keep warm. Can't do that with an ebook. :)
This concern is unfounded. Lithium-based batteries have been proven - in real world situations - to burn most excellently.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:5, Funny)
- Durability - Both are ruined by water,
Sometimes. I've dried out a water-damaged book that was personally valuable to me, and it came out halfway decent. Perfect, no, but still quite readable.
I'd have to unlearn so many habits with eBooks. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to stop gripping my books in my teeth when I'm running out of hands, but I'd have to break myself of my habit of using a bad book to kill flies with. If I'm reading a book I dislike and a fly lands nearby, I'll whack it with the book. Oddly I reflexively won't do this if I'm enjoying the book. So all it'll take is one bad book and one fly and there goes the eBook reader. And if anyone sees me do it, there goes any attempt to live without having something insanely stupid to try live down.
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Re:i'm not paying $250 to buy books (Score:4, Interesting)
There are going to be amazing tablet PCs coming soon. With a Pixel Qi display [youtube.com] capacitive touch screen, the killer app will be 10" ebook readers that are clearer and easier to read than E-Ink in sunlight, but which do decent color video indoors. I just sent my wish list to a friend I have in marketing at Dell:
Wifi, bluetooth, a couple USB ports
Yeah... I really want one.
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The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:5, Insightful)
Can users install their own apps or replace the OS? If not, I don't see how use of Android OS would matter.
Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:4, Insightful)
Well wait till its been officially released and in the store before you ask for Linux on it. ;-)
If history is any guide it might take a week and a half for someone to post a hack.
But even in the absence of that, the fact that it is Android DOES matter, because Android is growing rapidly, its open source, and has a lot of support from a lot of companies and individuals (and its basically Linux under the skin).
This means there is an upgrade path for the device. Its not a dead-end device, and OS upgrades will likely become available, both official (B&N), and unofficial.
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Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:5, Insightful)
I can get a netbook with an e-paper screen that makes battery last for two weeks? Sweet!
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Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:5, Funny)
[...] that I can't read outside is a better alternative.
Outside? What is this place? Tell me more.
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Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:4, Funny)
Outside? What is this place? Tell me more.
It's like this really big room, with a bright blue ceiling. It's on the other side of this door that is usually locked...
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Re:The OS would only matter if the device is open (Score:4, Insightful)
You're asking Slashdot what is the point of getting on a device and tweaking/adding your own code? Seriously?
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A little early (Score:5, Insightful)
The Kindle Killer Arrives
How do you kill that which has no life?
Re:A little early (Score:5, Interesting)
The same way the iPod killed the MPman, Rio, and other early-to-market MP3 players.
Now the iPod is like Kleenex or Hoover - the generic name for all players. Maybe the new Nook will become similarly popular and kill-off Kindle? I actually had one of my coworkers tell me that iPod is the only "true" player and I should stop using "ipod knockoffs" like Insignia. My attempt to tell him that iPod was not the first player, and actually arrived 3 years after the first was met with skepticism ("Don't be stupid. Apple was first.")
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Re:A little early (Score:5, Funny)
[Shrug] It's no more stupid than those people who think there was more than one Matrix movie.
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Re:A little early (Score:5, Funny)
How do you kill that which has no life?
Chainsaws and stakes work well
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Re:A little early (Score:5, Funny)
Klaatu barata ni...*mumble*
Well, close enough, anyways.
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Unspecified carrier? It's AT&T. (Score:5, Informative)
According to the comparison sheet [barnesandnoble.com], they're using AT&T.
Re:Unspecified carrier? It's AT&T. (Score:5, Informative)
From the Support Faq:
Q: Will I be charged wireless fees? Do I need any sort of contract?
A: No. There is no charge for your nook's wireless features. You do not need a contract.
So free wifi AND 3G from ATT, apparently for life of the product.
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Re:Unspecified carrier? It's AT&T. (Score:5, Funny)
AT&T sucks, I'll stick with my iPhone~
Sometimes it's too easy.
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hmm (Score:5, Funny)
Some wireless. Less space than a kindle. Lame.
Re:hmm (Score:5, Informative)
For the youngsters who don't get the reference, read the Slashdot blurb from the ipod's release: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=01/10/23/1816257&tid=107 [slashdot.org] . And then get off my lawn.
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Wait for the fine print (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Wait for the fine print (Score:5, Funny)
While you LEND a book, you can't read it. The other party can read it (without paying for it). Then you get it back and you can read it but the other party can't.
What could be Fairer than that? Its exactly like a paper book, except the other party can't fail to return your book.
Jeeze, I wish I could get this plan for the tools I lend to my neighbor!
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Nooks (Score:4, Funny)
Please partner with us.
Sincerely,
Thomas' English Muffins Inc.
The real killer question: remote deletion? (Score:5, Insightful)
Obvious (Score:5, Funny)
Everyone should get a little Nookie!
Yeah, but how's the DRM? (Score:5, Interesting)
If their titles are bogged down with DRM I'm not buying it. Not as a political or philosophical statement; I've just burned my hand on that stove too many times. The music companies have figured it out (or at least have been clubbed into submission). Hopefully the book publishers will come to their senses as well.
Low sales ahead in the UK? Nook-e anybody?! (Score:5, Insightful)
Low sales ahead in the UK as British punters embarrassed to go into their book shops and libraries and ask for Nook e-books? :-)
For non-UK folks, "Nooky" is cheeky old fashioned slang for sex, so "nooky book" would mean a porno novel....
Place your bets now: flamebait or funny? (Score:4, Informative)
It's quite simple. A punt is a flat-bottomed boat which is propelled by pushing a pole against the river bed (similar to a gondola). A punter is to Oxford and Cambridge as a gondolier is to Venice. (Don't worry if you've never heard of Oxford, Cambridge, or Venice: they're in Europe).
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I already own several Kindle Killers. (Score:4, Funny)
And like everyone else, I call them "hammers".
Okay, so I own an older Kindle, here's my POV... (Score:5, Interesting)
I can read PDF just fine - the conversion process can be done in multiple ways and costs me a few pennies down to nothing for the Kindle. So that's no biggie. The MP3 player? I have that on my multiple year old Kindle too - I have YET to EVER use it so that's no biggie. The expandable memory? I have that on mine too but it's SD and they killed it on the new version - stupid of them IMO. That said the new Kindle has more base memory and quite frankly if it's just books you're putting on there it will hold a metric shit-ton of books! The average paperback book I get is under a meg and I have gigs of storage on my device. So, while a nice touch this advantage isn't that big a deal to me.The color touch screen for nav I don't get, what's the advantage? If it uses more power then I don't want it - make the device like the Energizer Bunny and last a long long time and I'm happy. Things like refresh rate changing pages are a bigger deal to me than this gimmick, honestly refresh on my old unit is okay by me.
Having owned and used an eBook reader for a good long time now I can tell you that capacity, battery life, and coverage for the radio are big concerns for ME. My very biggest concern is availability of BOOKS at decent prices - more magazines would be nice. That's what I am buying the thing for and if it cannot give me a ton of access to books then it's worthless. Right now Amazon gives me all the books I can absorb, with rare exception, at somewhat decent discount rates. Lending is nice but 14 days isn't long enough for most - I've seen how slow some people are with reading! Give it a full screen that does color I might be more interested but not at the expense of most of the battery life.
Really for me this is a yawner unless it starts a price war on content. I know I'm locked in with Amazon DRM but I also know how to break it if I really wanted to - I've got the tools. If I had NO eReader then yeah sure this would be more interesting but their past with eBooks would give me pause . Anyway, nice to see more entries into this realm. Perhaps with more and more readers coming out someone will make the breaking of Amazon DRM a little bit easier and more automated? That would be helpful!!
Re:Okay, so I own an older Kindle, here's my POV.. (Score:4, Insightful)
MP3 support on this thing would be cool.
You download an e-book along side the audio version.
You're at home reading your book on the Nook and when you hop in the car, it can play you the audio while you're driving. When you're ready to return to reading, it has your spot saved.
I'll use this slashdot post as evidence when I get in lawsuit over who patented the idea first.
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Lame. (Score:4, Funny)
No unicorn. Less controversy than a Kindle. Lame.
Re:Canada (Score:5, Funny)
That's correct. It's not around, it's arectangle.
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Re:why white? (Score:4, Interesting)
No, no, you got it wrong. The "everything white" decor only existed in sci-fi shows, not in real life. See Buck Rogers.
1970s decor is the "fake woodgrain panel" look, as epitomized by the classic Atari game console. Even my old 70s television looks like it was made from fake wood. If you really wanted to make your iPod or Kindle have the 70s look, slap some paste-on woodgrain on the front. Like so: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_XzjG65PlXj4/SluT0Q1RIiI/AAAAAAAAA-M/aZphER_TxdU/s400/woodipop.jpg [blogspot.com]
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Re:Will it be DRM inside? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Will it be DRM inside? (Score:5, Insightful)
So you would rather have it behave exactly like a real book?
As soon as you loan it to a friend, it will be wiped from your eBook reader?
Really?
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Re:Will it be DRM inside? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Paper Book DRM? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Why can't I just use my iPhone? (Score:5, Funny)
Why can't I just use my iPhone?
Didn't read the manual? Fingers all thumbs? Is it turned on?
Without further information, I will be unable to diagnose further why you are unable to use your iPhone.
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Re:Why can't I just use my iPhone? (Score:5, Informative)
I have a Kindle, and when I turn the wireless feature off, I've had a single charge last for 2 weeks of reading averaging 2+ hours a day, at a pretty regular rate. With eInk displays, it's the number of page turns that eats power - slower readers might have better results.
A second reason is that the iPhone display, while nice, is still back-lit and still gives me headaches if I read off of it for extended periods of time. eInk looks more or less like paper and doesn't operate by shining a bright light in my face.
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Re:How can you kill it?? (Score:4, Insightful)
A kindle only makes sense for a terrestrial traveler (WiFi download of books/news) who also uses it regularly. On a plane you can't get WiFi, nor are you going to travel to work daily by flight. So it makes no sense to use a Kindle there.
Now this market might not be very large. But it is extremely rich (hedge funds, Wallstreeters or the average beautician in NY) and will last a while -- people have been commuting for work to NY for years and they won't start driving anytime soon.
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Those sneaky bastards at B&N (Score:5, Funny)
They're one step ahead of you my infringing friend.
By including a PDF reader and wifi, they have prevented you from surreptitiously rooting their device to install such a reader, and then hacking the hardwired interface to load your ill-gotten reading material.
So go find all the pirated books you want - B&N has already won by taking away the thrill of victory by allowing you to load and read them as part of the basic package.
You can hang your head in shame, knowing that The Man has beaten you again. ;-)
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