Barnes & Noble recently started showing off the Nook, their new eBook reader that merges an iPhone-like LCD touch screen and the eInk-powered monochrome reader page. Last week, AOL's tech blog, Engadget, got its hands on the self-proclaimed "world's most advanced eBook reader." (Check the links below for their full report.)
At first glance, it looks a bit thicker and more "plasticky" than Kindle or Sony's Reader, as the LCD touch screen no doubt required a bit more hardware. At $259, the price tag for the Nook reflects the recent battle among manufacturers to meet consumer appetite for the device. Sony recently built a smaller version of the Reader, priced at $200, and while Amazon recently dropped the price of the Kindle2 to $259, the magazine-sized Kindle DX remains above $400.
Feature-wise, it's got some of the basics like 16-level-grayscale eInk screen, 2GB storage, and 3G or WiFi for connectivity. The touch-screen is a unique add, but it's more neat-o than practical -- navigating from one book to the next is something that comes up maybe once every 10 days for me, or at best five days if I've got a free weekend. It's an obvious misdirection from what eReader enthusiasts are really clamoring: a touch-activated eReader page itself.
There's also a book-sharing option that lets other Nook owners "borrow" a book from you for 14 days. It's smart to try to replicate that aspect of reading in "meat-space," only except the publisher has to allow sharing on that title for the Nook feature to work.
eBooks are becoming increasingly important to publishers, as sales are up 177% this year over 2008. It seems impressive compared to the industry-wide 2% yty increase, but eBooks still only accounted for about 1% of the $1.5bn industry-wide sales in August (in US net sales). Nevertheless, the growth hasn't slowed over the past few years, so expect eBooks and the eReaders that house them to continue to evolve.
Hit the links below from B&N and Engadget for more:
Official site: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/
Engadget has the full story:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/20/barnes-and-noble-nooks-first-close-up/
Check out the up-close gallery here:
http://www.engadget.com/photos/barnes-and-noble-nooks-first-close-up/2379345/
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Comments: 7
Books, etc, are easily downloaded and the selection is large. Prices are coming down, and many classics, etc., are $.99, such as a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald or Willa Cather. Eventually the Kindle will pay for itself. I pay $9.99 for a recent book or best seller instead of $29,00 or so.
Also,Kindle stands behind its product. When mine would not re-charge, I received a new one within three days with all my books on it and did not have to wait for repairs.
Are books as readily available on the Nook?