[Prestidigitweeze]

I was glad when people began to mention the PRS-700 four pages in.

My first thought at seeing the ST Glow: How are B&N going to fix the clarity issue encountered in the 700 if even Sony abandoned that idea?

I realize that e-ink workarounds have progressed since the 700, but isn't adding front lighting a job for a company that creates panels and film, not a one that repackages preexisting tech with budget-friendly specs and smart industrial design?

B&N can make e-readers which many users might prefer to Sonys, and they can offer a better value and shopping experience. But how are they going to solve what has remained an ongoing problem even for the company that first mastered the e-ink touch screen?

Of course B&N are going to call it "new tech." It's in their interests to find and point out some arbitrary distinction between the Glow and the 700. But is there a real distinction? There doesn't seem to be from the photos. Only those who demo the product in stores or buy it on faith will be able to tell us.

So far, B&N hasn't even given us an integrated light in any of their covers (not, at least, that I've seen).

The issue which B&N should be addressing is tighter case design and light implementation. Their hard cases make the Nook ST far larger than it needs to be, and the case mechanism is often arbitrary and too easy to unattach.

Picture Sony's slender case with the built-in light, but with the more modern approach to design used in third-party cases and some of the official Nook covers: fashionable, textured, current-color-palette aware. It would be nice to see a more snug version of covers like the Amalfi, too.