Barnes and Noble announces upcoming eReader

[cvkemp]

What I have read on Robert B. blog is that the ezreader could very well in the future be compatable with the fictionwise ereader format. From what I have heard from a manager and the B&N in the Dallas area that should let us use the ezreader for B&N ereader. I am not for sure on that but I sure hope so.

Chuck

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

That may be a disadvantage for many of the folks on this site, but it is probably of much less consequence to the reading public at large. Fiction novels seem to make up a rather large proportion of the inventory in book stores that I have visited. I would guess that B&N knows very well what proportion of their customer base will be well served by their eReader format choice.
IMHO, a significant plus for the eReader's DRM method is that it's DRM restricts reading to the owner of a credit card and not to a specific reading device. I have always preferred that DRM method( if I have to use one) since I first started reading on Palm devices some years ago. For the folks that need a Swiss Army Knife type of book format, B&N can always expand their format offerings when/if they see the need.

I agree with DaveS. I see some that say Ereader is the worst, but I do not share their view. I find no problem or difference in reading any of the books I buy compared to Mobi pocket or microsoft reader (which are the other formats I have used on multiple devices). What I like is that they allow other ereaders to co-exist, so if what you are reading needs special formatting, then you can use that reader if you device supports it.

Those Sony and Kindle owners who are disappointed that B&N does not support your device, this is exactly how we owners of non kindle and sony feel about Amazon and Sony - they do not support our devices.

Until DRM is eliminated there will be groups of customers that Amazon, Sony and B&N will lose.

[dpierron]

Originally Posted by 13xforever

Their eReader software doesn't work from behind the proxy with authentication. It just freezes, and without the client software you couldn't download a sample (but you still could download a full purchased book from your Library).

I have the same problem behind a corporate proxy WITHOUT authentication ... I can suggest using Proxifier, a software that forces proxy-unaware processes to use a proxy ; I use it in similar cases...

Originally Posted by 13xforever

So, all in all, it was pretty unpleasant experience and a strong disappointment. I hope that in a few months they'll fix all the bumps and then it will be up to compete with another eBook sellers.

I agree...

[jaxx6166]

What's going to happen to fictionwise?

[Chopchurch]

Originally Posted by Gideon

I just finished comparing the various stores and B&N did TERRIBLY. Out of 28 books they had 13, behind Fictionwise, BooksOnBoard, Sony and Amazon (which had 27).

http://blog.gideonaddington.com/2009...and-of-ebooks/

Not a huge issue, Barnes & Noble owns Fictionwise, so anything you see there will eventually end up at B&N. I just noticed that you completely ignored that fact in your article. Anyway Fictionwise's front page banner says "A Barnes & Noble company"..

[Abecedary]

Originally Posted by =X=

Great! That means we have fw, ereader, and ban to chose from. Right now eReader has the best prices

Not sure if that's sarcasm or not, but aren't all three owned by B&N? So it's really more like 3 interfaces to what will eventually be the same shop. Whether or not they keep prices consistent across all 3 sites is another story (some places intentionally don't do this in order to give the illusion of competition).

Originally Posted by Musicman

I agree with DaveS. I see some that say Ereader is the worst, but I do not share their view. I find no problem or difference in reading any of the books I buy compared to Mobi pocket or microsoft reader (which are the other formats I have used on multiple devices). What I like is that they allow other ereaders to co-exist, so if what you are reading needs special formatting, then you can use that reader if you device supports it.

Ditto here too. I have used eReader for years and find its format preferable for mobile devices and its DRM tolerable.

[dpierron]

It probably is not : although I didn't try buying I couldn't help noticing that a lot of books have a warning notice "sold only in the united states" or a similar sentence...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Unfortunately, eReader is technically the poorest of all the popular eBook formats in terms of its capabilities. It offers a very restricted range of formatting options. It's OK for straightforward novels, but it will do very badly for anything which has more complex formatting requirements.

They did announce quite a while ago that eReader will support ePub... we all assume it will be wrapped with eReader DRM. If that happens I think your objection will be moot.

BOb

[carld]

Originally Posted by jaxx6166

What's going to happen to fictionwise?

Nothing I hope. It's not my main ebookstore, but I buy plenty enough from FW to worry about how B&N is going to screw it up.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by carld

Nothing I hope. It's not my main ebookstore, but I buy plenty enough from FW to worry about how B&N is going to screw it up.

I expect, eventually eReader / FictionWise will be rolled up into a unified B&N store. That is how business mergers work. I know, I've been involved in enough of them. It just doesn't make good business sense to run all those web stores as separate properties.

BOb

[dpierron]

Originally Posted by carld

Nothing I hope. It's not my main ebookstore, but I buy plenty enough from FW to worry about how B&N is going to screw it up.

Same feeling here, although it IS my main store...
I already downloaded, converted (cough cough) the books I bought there, and added then to my Calibre library ; so, in effect, whatever happens to FW will only screw a good shop and my Club membership, but not my book collection.

[DixieGal]

I just tried to download a sample of In the Court of the Sun. It looks like one that I want and it seems to be different from the usual. Only comes in eReader format, unfortunately. I'm heading to Books on Board to see if I can find this book now.

I wish my Sony could read eReader. It is my preferred format for reading on the PC, due to it just looks so good and is easy on my eyes. However, I'm sure that if the Sony could use it, it would just end up being another plain text looking thing.


EDIT: It isn't at BoB. Does anyone know where I can get it in ePub?

[JSWolf]

Fictionwise is going to go down the tubes eventually if they don't start selling ePub other than multi-format. They need to get into now and stop sticking with last year. eReader is so last year and it's a terrible eBook format.

[Gideon]

I'm aware they own FW, but I wasn't talking about 'could be' or 'will happen' - I was talking about what they all actually had right now. Yes, it's probably inevitable but it might not be anytime soon.