[Article] Nook Chases Kindle At Snail's Pace

[=X=]

Probably one of the better articles I read, it was fair listing both strength and weakness of Amazon and B&N. The article seemed to be written by somebody that knows and uses ereaders.

Nook Chases Kindle At Snail's Pace

Nook Chases Kindle At Snail's Pace (Mobile Friendly link)

The only technical error I caught was his comment about the Android. It seems Google has done a great marketing job to make people believe the Andriod OS is more open than Linux.

=X=

[nick101]

Originally Posted by =X=

The only technical error I caught was his comment about the Android. It seems Google has done a great marketing job to make people believe the Andriod OS is more open than Linux.

=X=

The way I read it, the openness is directed to the book format (ePub) rather than the OS. The 'benefit' of the OS is the possibility of picking up Android applications later on.

Here's the section:

"The Nook may also benefit from being a more open platform than the Kindle. Unlike Amazon, which uses a proprietary book format, the Nook supports the ePub standard, which will allow it to access books from a wider variety of sources, including Google Inc.'s book project. The Nook also runs Google's Android mobile operating system, raising the possibility it might someday be able to run additional applications."

Personally, I think adding apps later risks turning an e-reader into a tablet, with all that implies in the way of complexity, cost and battery life.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by nick101

The way I read it, the openness is directed to the book format (ePub) rather than the OS. The 'benefit' of the OS is the possibility of picking up Android applications later on.

Here's the section:

"The Nook may also benefit from being a more open platform than the Kindle. Unlike Amazon, which uses a proprietary book format, the Nook supports the ePub standard, which will allow it to access books from a wider variety of sources, including Google Inc.'s book project. The Nook also runs Google's Android mobile operating system, raising the possibility it might someday be able to run additional applications."

Personally, I think adding apps later risks turning an e-reader into a tablet, with all that implies in the way of complexity, cost and battery life.

Bold emphasis was mine. He's believe that since the nook runs the "Google's Android mobile" there is a possibly allow more apps to be written for it is not entirely true.

If he replaced "Google Android Mobile" with Linux, Windows CE, PalmOS, etc... his statement would be just as accurate.

For instance both the Sony and Amazon Linux devices have had third party apps written on them without any vendor support.

=X=

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by =X=

Probably one of the better articles I read, ...

Nook Chases Kindle At Snail's Pace

...

"Amazon's current-model Kindle 2 takes about three seconds from the moment you release the power button until you can start reading. On the Nook, it takes a minute and 50 seconds."

Ouch!

Ouch to high heaven, ouch!

Ouch to the fourth power, ouch!

[Ocean]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

"Amazon's current-model Kindle 2 takes about three seconds from the moment you release the power button until you can start reading. On the Nook, it takes a minute and 50 seconds."

Ouch!

Ouch to high heaven, ouch!

Ouch to the fourth power, ouch!

To be fair, most people leave their devices on sleep...not off.

[purl4peace]

Originally Posted by =X=

Bold emphasis was mine. He's believe that since the nook runs the "Google's Android mobile" there is a possibly allow more apps to be written for it is not entirely true.

If he replaced "Google Android Mobile" with Linux, Windows CE, PalmOS, etc... his statement would be just as accurate.

For instance both the Sony and Amazon Linux devices have had third party apps written on them without any vendor support.

=X=

What I don't understand is that he doesn't like Kindle's browser (which, in my humble opinion, is quite handy -- particularly on the DX) -- yet he wants additional apps to be added to the reader? Seems a bit contradictory to me...

[Not_A_Crook]

I find it odd that so many editors and journalists want to quickly snuff out the nook- Seriously, IT CANNOT BE THAT SLOW...

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Not_A_Crook

I find it odd that so many editors and journalists want to quickly snuff out the nook- Seriously, IT CANNOT BE THAT SLOW...

Yes it can...perhaps not significantly slower than most other ebook devices, but that is hardly a compliment given that most ebook devices are geologically slow in the first place.

[Kali Yuga]

I'll reserve judgment until I lay my hands on one.

However, I think it's critical to keep in mind that this is a "Rev A" product by a company that knows books, but has never made anything like this before. To me, the fact that it doesn't instantly catch on fire shows that they're doing something right.

I.e. I don't expect much from the 1st generation nook, but I'm fairly confident that the 2nd gen will be much better. Perhaps even some firmware updates will help fix the issues.

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I'll reserve judgment until I lay my hands on one.

However, I think it's critical to keep in mind that this is a "Rev A" product by a company that knows books, but has never made anything like this before. To me, the fact that it doesn't instantly catch on fire shows that they're doing something right.

I.e. I don't expect much from the 1st generation nook, but I'm fairly confident that the 2nd gen will be much better. Perhaps even some firmware updates will help fix the issues.

Besides, they still need to funnel some of their customers to the Que and whatever else they might try to release in the near future.

[fugazied]

From the sounds of reviews, the nook really has some time issues. Slow page turns, slow loading of books, a bit laggy. But, on paper it is on the right track, much more so than the Kindle. epub, android and the potential for e-reader apps sound awesome.

I think once they iron out hardware or software issues (whatever is making the device so slow), then it will be a lot tougher competition. Right now it's just a mediocre product, with lots of great innovations but let down by implementation.

[Argel]

Originally Posted by Not_A_Crook

I find it odd that so many editors and journalists want to quickly snuff out the nook- Seriously, IT CANNOT BE THAT SLOW...

Well it must be pretty slow. According to your details you own one and yet you still don't apparently know how long it takes to boot up. Let us know when you finally get there.

[FragFrog]

Originally Posted by nick101

Personally, I think adding apps later risks turning an e-reader into a tablet, with all that implies in the way of complexity, cost and battery life.

Please explain to me just how exactly adding apps later is going to imply anything at all in the way of costs for a device you already bought? Really, I am terribly confused how an open platform means whatever I payed in the past is suddenly going to increase in the future. They ship timemachines with those apps now? Though I jest - you are right, who would ever want to add additional functionality to a device they already own? Luckily Apple figured this out before they spend money on some crazy idea like an application store for their devices, surely nobody would ever have used such monstrosity!

For the record: Sony's PRS-600 is still very much closed off - a russian development group has managed to load a custom firmware giving access to an additional dictionary and clock, but this is far from an open system where you can just load any kind of application you want, despite it running linux - which demonstrates exactly how much the OS actually matters when the manufacturer does not want you to meddle. I will stay my rejoicing till I actually see some freely available SDK's to develop Nook applications.

I think it's more likely that multiple-purpose devices—such as smart phones and the tablet Apple is rumored to be working on—will become the preferred means for accessing print content.

And again an article completely misses the point. An eReader, unlike a smart phone or even a tablet, has two distinct trademarks: its battery life is far, far greater than that of any cellphone or tablet, and the eInk screen is far easier on the eyes than an LCD. These points and these points alone warrent the purchase of an eReader - just how many people here would spend $300 on a Kindle if its battery life was 3 hours and it used an LCD screen? While it might be true smartphones and tablets are used more often, they are far from the preferred device for reading and, untill they are equiped with foldable eInk screens, will remain so.