[donnieparker]

Let me start off by saying that I am a B&N Bookseller with quite a bit of experience with the nook device.

Here are the reasons I believe the nook color rumor on CNET is true, and why I think the current models will be staying, well, current:

First of all, B&N has been slowly making modifications to the current nook's hardware over the past year:

- The current nooks we sell have visibly better contrast than our demo units (which are the original 1.0 machines)
- The current nooks are lighter than our demo units
- The current nooks have a new ambient light sensor just above the touchscreen
- The current nooks are MUCH faster than our demo units, and they're all running 1.4
- The current 3Gs use a different GSM dual-band radio
- The current nooks have stronger bezels (to eliminate the cracked button problem)

This is why I feel like the current CNET rumor is true. The nook you buy today is definitely better than the original models. With the 1.5 firmware, it's hard to argue that kindle 3 is that superior (aside from weight, which is def. a big win, and obviously battery life). With a color model at the top-end, we barely would even need to make a nook vs. kindle argument anymore. "Is Kindle 3 better than the original nook?" "Perhaps, but we have color."

So what does that mean?

I think B&N will keep the current models around (possibly with a price reduction), and will really set MAJOR focus on the color model. I only hope that it's not LCD. I'd pretty much freak out if it was mirasol, but I really doubt the tech is affordable enough (but really, who knows?).

Just some two cents from a nook seller. We'll get our answers next week!