nook tablet limited to 1 gig of non-b&n content

[basschick]

yes, indeed, the nook tablet only allows users to use 1 gig for non-barnes & noble content. the rest must be dedicated to their stuff. funny thing - i was going to order one of these for myself, and a couple others for family members. now, no way. it would be better if they developed more content and features people really want to spend money on rather than holding consumers who spend their money hostage this way.

think the average user will go for it?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/24401...gb_gotcha.html

i did a search and didn't find this in news, although i can't imagine i'm the first so i probably missed it.

[Tony1988]

Meh. It has a card slot. No biggie.

[JxK]

And should it get rooted eventually, one could install stock android onto the device itself, and thereby gain access to the restricted hard drive space.

[DiapDealer]

So much for that 1.5Gb ebook on my TBR list.

[monkeyluis]

Originally Posted by Tony1988

Meh. It has a card slot. No biggie.

Not if that's restricted also. Remember the xoom...

[geertm]

Originally Posted by basschick

yes, indeed, the nook tablet only allows users to use 1 gig for non-barnes & noble content. the rest must be dedicated to their stuff. funny thing - i was going to order one of these for myself, and a couple others for family members. now, no way. it would be better if they developed more content and features people really want to spend money on rather than holding consumers who spend their money hostage this way.

think the average user will go for it?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/24401...gb_gotcha.html

i did a search and didn't find this in news, although i can't imagine i'm the first so i probably missed it.

This is not some kind of big secret. It has been clearly mentioned on the Nook Tablet specs page from November 7 on.
As $10 will get you a 8GB micro-sd card, and $20 a 16GB one, this is a non-issue.

There is a very good reason for this partitioning model. All apps have to be installed in the hidden B&N partition. Those interactive books and childrens books are apps that can be 100MB or more in size. The original NC had only 1 GB for apps, and 5 GB for other B&N content and sideloaded content. People were running out of space to install apps. That is why they changed the partitioning model on the NC to 5 GB for all B&N content, and 1 GB for non-B&N content. And that is reason for the partitioning model of the Nook Tablet.

If they would allocate more space for non-B&N content they would limit the amount of B&N content that you could store on the Nook Tablet. With apps (books) of 100MB, and with a rumoured video store coming next year not a good idea, and sure to anger customers.
I do not want B&N to limit the amount of B&N content that can be stored, just because some users do not want to pay $10 for an micro-sd card.

[robko]

Originally Posted by geertm

All apps have to be installed in the hidden B&N partition.

This is an I have no idea what the answer is question: is there a reason they have to be installed there or that a B&N choice that there has to be this hidden partition that the apps have to be installed on (i.e. is there a general technical reason or is this a B&N decision)?

[bgalbrecht]

I think this is a mistake on B&N's part. B&N doesn't show how full their partition is, and the forums are full of people asking why they can't download anything and don't know how to fix it. They ought to have a single partition for all downloads, B&N and others, with everything visible.

[LoganK]

Originally Posted by robko

is there a reason they have to be installed there or that a B&N choice that there has to be this hidden partition that the apps have to be installed on (i.e. is there a general technical reason or is this a B&N decision)?

There is no very good reason for standard applications(*). It is mostly a decision made by B&N.

(*) Applications that run all the time like widgets, live wallpapers, and replacement keyboards are special. As far as I know, the B&N App store does not include any of these.

Originally Posted by bgalbrecht

I think this is a mistake on B&N's part. B&N doesn't show how full their partition is

This shortcoming has been addressed in version 1.4.

[seajewel]

Still think it's a terrible decision, and it really turns me off of Barnes & Noble. It was bad enough with the e-ink readers, but now you're talking about a multimedia device.. Yes rooting to android will solve your problems, but that's really something probably only a small percentage of people do.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by seajewel

Still think it's a terrible decision, and it really turns me off of Barnes & Noble. It was bad enough with the e-ink readers, but now you're talking about a multimedia device.. Yes rooting to android will solve your problems, but that's really something probably only a small percentage of people do.

Plus it turns a nice optional feature (the SD Card) into an added and mandatory expense to get full value out of the thing. Even if its only $10 it is still an extra ownership cost.

[afv011]

Originally Posted by LoganK

There is no very good reason for standard applications(*). It is mostly a decision made by B&N.

(*) Applications that run all the time like widgets, live wallpapers, and replacement keyboards are special. As far as I know, the B&N App store does not include any of these.



This shortcoming has been addressed in version 1.4.

You are mistaken, this is not a decision by B&N, but standard Android practice. Android OS has a partition call data where the applications, and their associated data, is stored. What B&N has the choice to do, like any other manufacturer, is adjust the size of this and other partitions as they see fit, but the storage location is dictated by Android itself. And the partition is not "hidden" anymore than the same partition is "hidden" on a mobile phone or tablet running Android; when you connect the phone or tablet to your PC only the SD card and the media partition on the device (if present) are mounted, but you can see these "hidden" partitions if you use a file explorer on your device. So, they are not "hidden", they are simply not mounted when the device is connected to a PC.

[Grimm]

Edited because I spoke before doing research.

[SleepyBob]

Originally Posted by afv011

You are mistaken, this is not a decision by B&N, but standard Android practice. Android OS has a partition call data where the applications, and their associated data, is stored. What B&N has the choice to do, like any other manufacturer, is adjust the size of this and other partitions as they see fit, but the storage location is dictated by Android itself. And the partition is not "hidden" anymore than the same partition is "hidden" on a mobile phone or tablet running Android; when you connect the phone or tablet to your PC only the SD card and the media partition on the device (if present) are mounted, but you can see these "hidden" partitions if you use a file explorer on your device. So, they are not "hidden", they are simply not mounted when the device is connected to a PC.

Can you explain how what B&N has done is different than what Amazon has done? Because they don't have any division between purchased content and sideloaded, or apps vs. movies. Why couldn't B&N have taken the same route, then?

[LoganK]

Originally Posted by SleepyBob

Can you explain how what B&N has done is different than what Amazon has done? Because they don't have any division between purchased content and sideloaded, or apps vs. movies. Why couldn't B&N have taken the same route, then?

They could. He is right in saying that the various partitions are necessary, but the "hidden" (meaning not generally user or application accessible) partitions are generally much smaller. All B&N applications that I know of can be installed on a user-accessible area. All B&N books can be installed on a user-accessible area. Any B&N magazines can be installed on a user-accessible area.

The semi-official word seems to be that B&N was worried we might use the space, not have enough space for that 200MB magazine we want to purchase, and then decide not to buy. So we are protected from things like having to manage our media when making purchases.