Consumer Reports: Nook Beats The Kindle

[Prestidigitweeze]

Written this way to arouse user with fetish for clauses without articles.

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Actually, that isn't completely true. It's some users of kindle and some users of windows. And it is completely false when it comes to the members of this forum, because they actually know about most of the other options out there. They just choose to ignore them.

I wouldn't say "ignore" so much as "liked something else more."

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

I wouldn't say "ignore" so much as "liked something else more."

This. Every year, I try Linux. I just keep going back to Windows although the latest version Kubuntu is close to making me switch.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

I wouldn't say "ignore" so much as "liked something else more."

How many readers have you considered before liking the kindle more?

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by ApK

The 'bull' was specifically regarding the idea that 100,000 could be dismissed out of hand as too small for a population of a few million. I know epidemiologists who would kill for a sample that large.

I heard national elections have turned on polling samples of mere hundreds.

The rest of your post, unless I missed something, basically said you don't think my opinion has a sound basis.

I note the success of the Kindle.
I note the general tone of customers on Amazon and other websites.
I note the specific polls and threads asking about it here.
I note the overheard conversations in stores as I hang around the ereader counter (as I often do).
I note the lack of mention of customer concerns in the trade press.
I note the anecdotal evidence presented to me as an IT professional from a fairly wide circle of friends, colleagues and clients.

The people who are warning people away from Amazon because of "lock in/out" APPEAR to me to be basing it in on imagined worst-case scenarios and anamardoll's mom.
Correct me if there is anything else informing their opinion.

ApK

Walls are always not an issue... unless you need to get to the other side.

I really have to wonder how much you read MR. There are always lots of discussions about people having issues with DRM and vendor lock-in. And if the MR community struggles so much with that, I shudder to think what the general population will run into if they try using another reader or store.

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

This. Every year, I try Linux. I just keep going back to Windows although the latest version Kubuntu is close to making me switch.

Ah, memories! I grew up using Unix--we had a network of three or four different workstations set up (along with a ginormous dot-matrix printer) for all us kids to type up our homework.

I was a Windows user with the occasional foray into Linux for nearly 20 years until a DELL laptop that literally fell apart at the seams led me to ask, "Hmm... wonder if MacBooks have a better build quality than this POS?" (Answer: Yes... at least when it comes to DELL. After five years, this sucker has held up brilliantly to my abuse and the abuse of a toddler. And it is so much fun to see the guys at the "Genius" Bar look absolutely horrified when I bring in my filthy, dented laptop. Best. Day. Ever. was when I was scolded for letting my baby drink a bottle near the computer as the dude scrubbed furiously at some microscopic droplets at the keyboard. "Bottle? Oh, no! We're still breast feeding!" )

[ApK]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

There are always lots of discussions about people having issues with DRM and vendor lock-in.

Any examples? Links? I'm perfectly willing to revise my opinion in the light of any new evidence.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

"Bottle? Oh, no! We're still breast feeding!" )

Very good. I thought you were going say "Of course a bottle! You don't think we'd let him drink Guinness right from the tap, do you?"

[boswd]

Originally Posted by CleverClothe

Walls are always not an issue... unless you need to get to the other side.

I really have to wonder how much you read MR. There are always lots of discussions about people having issues with DRM and vendor lock-in. And if the MR community struggles so much with that, I shudder to think what the general population will run into if they try using another reader or store.

There's a girl at work that has a kindle, when she found out that i don't have to buy my books soley from BN, she said "Oh cool, what are the sites you buy from so I can look at them?" I explained to her unless they use DRM free mobi pocket you can't. She aksed why? I said most major sites use ePub which is not supported on the Kindle.

I then went on to explain about a desktop application called Calibre and told her if she was willing to strip the DRM and then convert it to Mobi she could do that.

She looked at me like I had eight heads and said " ahhh not worth the trouble" True story

I think the problem most on here is, they tend to think everyone is or should be as knowledgable about all this stuff as we are. When more than likely the majority of people with ereaders are clueless about all this drm stripping, calibre, etc. They buy a book read it and move on to the next one and buy from the supporting platform used on the device.

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

How many readers have you considered before liking the kindle more?

I spent about three months researching choices and tested out the NOOK Color, the original NOOK, the Sony PRS-350, the Kobo, and the Kindle. Also looked at a couple of LCD readers very briefly before concluding that I preferred eink. I never saw a PocketBook or CyBook at a Brick-and-Mortar store, so didn't have a chance to test those out.

I didn't care for the LCD screens on the NOOKs, and the Kobo didn't allow me to do the sort of annotations that I wanted to make. I thought the touchscreen on the Sony was interesting but somewhat fussy (I tested without the stylus since I knew I would inevitably lose the thing), but I disliked having to go through the menu system in order to access the annotations feature.

In the end, I preferred the simplicity of just typing my notes on the Kindle's keyboard, the tactile feedback of the page turn buttons, and the ability to easily look-up additional information on the web when I'm reading an unfamiliar topic. I do not own a smartphone so having 3G access and a basic web browser is a really nice bonus. I've used it for sending emails, checking maps/directions, AND reading ebooks from Google Books. I also have some feeds scheduled on Calibre, so it's nice to be able to download those while I'm away from home.

For my needs and personal preferences, the Kindle was the best fit.

[markdek]

Originally Posted by stickybuns

I spent about three months researching choices and tested out the NOOK Color, the original NOOK, the Sony PRS-350, the Kobo, and the Kindle. Also looked at a couple of LCD readers very briefly before concluding that I preferred eink. I never saw a PocketBook or CyBook at a Brick-and-Mortar store, so didn't have a chance to test those out.

I didn't care for the LCD screens on the NOOKs, and the Kobo didn't allow me to do the sort of annotations that I wanted to make. I thought the touchscreen on the Sony was interesting but somewhat fussy (I tested without the stylus since I knew I would inevitably lose the thing), but I disliked having to go through the menu system in order to access the annotations feature.

In the end, I preferred the simplicity of just typing my notes on the Kindle's keyboard, the tactile feedback of the page turn buttons, and the ability to easily look-up additional information on the web when I'm reading an unfamiliar topic. I do not own a smartphone so having 3G access and a basic web browser is a really nice bonus. I've used it for sending emails, checking maps/directions, AND reading ebooks from Google Books. I also have some feeds scheduled on Calibre, so it's nice to be able to download those while I'm away from home.

For my needs and personal preferences, the Kindle was the best fit.

Great summary of my feelings too toward the Kindle 3...although in my case, I only have the wifi.

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by ApK

Very good. I thought you were going say "Of course a bottle! You don't think we'd let him drink Guinness right from the tap, do you?"

Funny you should mention that... I had a surprising number of people advising me to drink a bottle of Guinness every day for the extra iron. So "drinking from the tap" could very well be an accurate statement for some people's babies (yeesh!)

[boswd]

Originally Posted by markdek

Great summary of my feelings too toward the Kindle 3...although in my case, I only have the wifi.

I guess we all have our stories etc. My co-worker turned me on to eink, which I was opposed to. I was all about " the feel, the touch of a book" person. but I was impressed with eink. So for week he would let me read my current book on his kindle, I was sold. I went home ready to order up one. Then my wife came home with nook (nook classic) to be precise. After playing with for 15 mins, I felt like it was Divine Intervention. LOL

I could have kicked myself for not shopping around and looking etc. The Kindle felt and looked soo antiquated compared to the nook. This was the kindle 2. After playing around with the touchscreen of the nook and then fumbling around with that stupid stubby joystick on the kindle , I was like "Man what was I thinking" and the rest as they say is history.

[Vandy]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

This. Every year, I try Linux.
< snip! >

Originally Posted by stickybuns

Ah, memories! I grew up using Unix--
< snip! >

Linux and Unix -- aren't they four letter words...?

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by ApK

Any examples? Links? I'm perfectly willing to revise my opinion in the light of any new evidence.

Well... not to horn in here again, and I've already thrown my anecdata on the pile, but my family, exhibit A.

Look, we can all side-step the issue and say "There's no such thing as True Lock In because DRM can be removed." That's true, and anyone arguing against it is in a day dream.

BUT. DRM removal is onerous because it takes time and knowledge. That's a fact. It may not take MUCH time, and it may not take MUCH knowledge, and someone may have plenty of both/either to invest, but it is a fact that time and know-how are required for DRM removal.

So in that sense, DRM lock-in does exist.

A "lock" doesn't magically keep someone out of your house, it just slows them down a little. DRM doesn't magically prevent you from changing devices, but it does make you stop and calculate "how much time and knowledge will I have to invest to make this switch".

In that sense, I would say that anyone saying that DRM isn't a lock -- albeit an easy one to pick for certain people -- is also day dreaming.