Moving Forward in E-Readers

[L.J. Sellers]

This NY Times article gives high marks to the "All-New Nook" and the "Kobo Touch Edition." (Yes, B&N really called it the All-New Nook.)
A few quotes:

"...e-book readers just took their first slimy steps out of the primordial soup."

..."nearly identical readers that are clearly intended to embarrass the industry leader, the Amazon Kindle."

Worth a read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/te...l?pagewanted=1


L.J.

[J. Strnad]

I might like the touchscreen for many of the functions, but Kobo went too far in eliminating the page turn buttons IMO.

It's funny, but after hearing so many people complain about the lack of "feel" in ebook readers compared with print books, I now find myself complaining about the lack of feel in the new Kobo vs. the old!

I'm glad that the Nook hasn't completely abandoned page turn buttons...yet.

[jridley]

I agree, the page turn buttons on the Nook STR are wonderful and I wouldn't give them up. It's the only way to read one-handed. I do turn pages by tapping sometimes, it depends on how I'm holding it. The Nook gives so many ways to hold that all feel comfortable that it allows me to read for much longer at a stretch.

RE lack of "feel" versus paper: yes, I really miss paper; cramped hands, having to use two hands to read, having the covers curl up when they get exposed to more than 35% humidity, uncomfortable to hold, limited lifespan, disintegrating bindings. Ah, the good old days.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Did you get to the end of the article?...

All of this is clear evidence that the clunky primitiveness of the Paleozoic e-book era is finally drawing to a close. At this rate, before you know it, e-book readers will arrive solidly in the Jurassic period.

[Namekuseijin]

many comparisons to old geological eras make it clear that they consider books in general a thing of the past.

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by The Article

..."nearly identical readers that are clearly intended to embarrass the industry leader, the Amazon Kindle."

I'm not sure how to understand that statement. How are they "intended" to embarrass the Kindle/Amazon? I mean, I wouldn't know how to embarrass someone/something that's the top dog.

What are they intending to do? Catch an Amazon Kindle in bed having a naughty-time romp with Sony reader while an iPad watches? THAT'D be embarrassing.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

I'm not sure how to understand that statement. How are they "intended" to embarrass the Kindle/Amazon? I mean, I wouldn't know how to embarrass someone/something that's the top dog.

What are they intending to do? Catch an Amazon Kindle in bed having a naughty-time romp with Sony reader while an iPad watches? THAT'D be embarrassing.

Maybe it's the other kind of embarrassment. You know, the empathetic kind you get watching other people humiliate themselves.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

What are they intending to do? Catch an Amazon Kindle in bed having a naughty-time romp with Sony reader while an iPad watches? THAT'D be embarrassing.

thanks for the interesting imagery

[Donnageddon]

In case you want to read the discussion of this article from a few days ago

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=138221

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Namekuseijin

many comparisons to old geological eras make it clear that they consider books in general a thing of the past.

If the names of the geological eras are to be used to describe books, would this not be more appropriate (please feel free to add/correct as needed, I got the era names from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologi...od#Terminology" class="wikilink" title="MR Wiki entry">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologi...od#Terminology), working backwards from the Jurassic era):

- Silurian: Written Numbers

- Devonian: Written Communication Before Books

- Carboniferous: Hand-Written Books

- Permian: Printed Books

- Triassic: On-Line Documents

- Jurassic: Electronic Books

[issybird]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

This NY Times article gives high marks to the "All-New Nook" and the "Kobo Touch Edition." (Yes, B&N really called it the All-New Nook.)

Nope, Pogue got it wrong. He misread the ad copy. Makes his riff on the name kinda embarrassing.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

I might like the touchscreen for many of the functions, but Kobo went too far in eliminating the page turn buttons IMO.

I might have agreed with you since I really like the side buttons on the Kindle 3. But, after three days of reading on the Kobo Touch, using a little thumb tap on the right side holding it with my right hand, it works really well and is essentially the identical "action" as the Kindle 3.