David Pogue slams the Nook

[Ocean]

Huh? This is not the Nook forum.

[Not_A_Crook]

Originally Posted by Ocean

Huh? This is not the Nook forum.

Just for a bit of advice, if you are going to post a goodbye message, at least private email someone/post in lounge. It is typical for various people to get annoyed by that. Don't make yourself a bigger troll out of this, please.

[Nate the great]

I merged the two threads about David Pogue's Nook review.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by Not_A_Crook

Just for a bit of advice, if you are going to post a goodbye message, at least private email someone/post in lounge. It is typical for various people to get annoyed by that. Don't make yourself a bigger troll out of this, please.

chill. I think he was just bowing out of the Nook forum

[Not_A_Crook]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

chill. I think he was just bowing out of the Nook forum

Sorry KK, I run into goodbye messages on Deviantart and it kind of annoys me... I'm not annoyed by many things other than that...

[netseeker]

Originally Posted by Ocean

He (Pogue) isn't right on this. First, only a few of those titles are available for the Kindle (at least not without conversion and often manual extra work), second, even without the Google-ePubs B&N offers 120.000 titles (or so) more than Amazon. He just tries to turn a positive into a negative.

Also he is bashing the "loan e-books to friends"-feature. He just forgets that this feature is unique. B&N pionieers this feature - and obviously against the oppositions in the publishing houses. Shouldn't we (customers) appreciate B&Ns effort on this matter?

Seems like the nook-nuking (or B&N-bashing) has reached even the so called serious media.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Madam Broshkina

I have no issues with the LCD screen it seems pretty responsive to me. I do have issues with the slow refresh on the e-ink screen and the lack of any kind of sorting and searching for documents side loaded. Hopefully as stated. in the article the upgrade scheduled for next week will fix things, if not it will go back. But I have to admit the nook is kind of growing on me despite the flaws.

excellent. Just keep us posted.

[GA Russell]

Originally Posted by Teddman

I wonder why more reviews like this don't point out that there are a whole class of less expensive e-readers out there for people who don't need wireless store access or touchscreens, and just want to read and buy the occasional book when they're near a computer.

Amen, Teddman!

I think I'll send some karma your way for stating what ought to be obvious to guys in the business.

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by scruffy

90% of the complaints he (and all of the other negative reviews I've read) ignore the simple fact: Nook 1.0 software has flaws, but they _will_ be fixed.

He complains about bad UI, sluggish interfaces, crashes, etc... all of which will be fixed with a software update sooner than later.

He complains about the books from Google, which is not B&N's fault or responsibility, in any way, and about comparative pricing, which BN is already working to address with pricematching Amazon.

In short, Pogue is wrong.

I got my nook today, and it rocks. Bugs, yes. But I didn't expect it to be as smooth as Kindle2, or as polished as Iphone's UI. Give the updates a month or 3, and it will be. The hardware is solid... slim, and feels great, looks great.

Yeah, it sounds like Pogue is way off-base.

[Abulia]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

chill. I think he was just bowing out of the Nook forum

We could be so lucky. It seems unlikely as that's where the audience is that he most wants to troll is located.

[purl4peace]

Originally Posted by scruffy

90% of the complaints he (and all of the other negative reviews I've read) ignore the simple fact: Nook 1.0 software has flaws, but they _will_ be fixed.

He complains about bad UI, sluggish interfaces, crashes, etc... all of which will be fixed with a software update sooner than later.

He complains about the books from Google, which is not B&N's fault or responsibility, in any way, and about comparative pricing, which BN is already working to address with pricematching Amazon.

In short, Pogue is wrong.

I got my nook today, and it rocks. Bugs, yes. But I didn't expect it to be as smooth as Kindle2, or as polished as Iphone's UI. Give the updates a month or 3, and it will be. The hardware is solid... slim, and feels great, looks great.

Considering the amount of effort and all the pre-marketing hype about this being the "kindle killer", these defects could be fatal for the nook. You only get one chance to make a first impression and so far, that impression is very very bad.

When people plunk down 260+ bucks for a device, they expect it to work -- especially after it has been delayed (usually delays are related to fixing critical defects -- if they released these with the number of defects already cited, I can only imagine the critical ones that caused them to hold off shipping).

Besides, after the Cybook "vaporware" debacle, I would be very reluctant to buy a device and just "trust" the vendor to fix the defects "soon". Particularly when I can buy a device like the Sony or even the Kindle for the same money that already works.

[nikkie]

Bummer.

I think he's right about all the things he slammed. (He tends to be). He doesn't give any credence to the product's future promise though, which is unfortunate. A second review after they've fixed these would be well-ordered. B&N has already made a good stab at fixing prices in the last couple of weeks.

A lot of people rely on Pogue's review for product information. This could hurt the nook - a lot.

[TallMomof2]

Originally Posted by purl4peace

Besides, after the Cybook "vaporware" debacle, I would be very reluctant to buy a device and just "trust" the vendor to fix the defects "soon". Particularly when I can buy a device like the Sony or even the Kindle for the same money that already works.

ITA, after waiting for way too long for the Cybook update I've given up on that. I considered ordering a Nook but decided to wait and now I'm glad I did. Once the flaws are fixed it will most likely be a fine device. But I'd rather wait and see the flaws fixed.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by nikkie

Bummer.

I think he's right about all the things he slammed. (He tends to be). He doesn't give any credence to the product's future promise though, which is unfortunate. A second review after they've fixed these would be well-ordered. B&N has already made a good stab at fixing prices in the last couple of weeks.

A lot of people rely on Pogue's review for product information. This could hurt the nook - a lot.

I don't know who Pogue is, but I read the article and felt his arguments lacked some form of credibility. Straight away he had a good cry that the Nook encompasses similar traits to the Kindle such as; the plastic housing, free cellular connection; same 6" screen; same price. B&N are hardly going to see success with the Nook if they sell it for more than the Kindle and offer less.

Pogue was going to complain anyway. If B&N used a 5" screen, he'd say that the Kindle has the right size and the Nook should be the same. If B&N didn't have cellular connection, he'd complain saying the Kindle does and B&N should have included it to compete with Amazon. I can keep going (but I wont). All that is clear is regardless of what product a company releases there will always be someone who will knock it down. His only point I tend to agree with was the speed of page turning - but that is something B&N are working to fix.

What will his next article contain, a complaint that a new netbook by Dell has the same screen as an Asus netbook? BLAH!

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

I don't know who Pogue is, but... Pogue was going to complain anyway.

"I don't know the first thing about this reviewer, but I'm sure he was going to hate the nook despite its obvious brilliance!" Nice.

Pogue is the main tech gadget reviewer for the NY Times, he's been doing it for years. I don't think he has quite the elevated reputation of Mossberger -- whose review is highly similar to Pogue's, as is almost every other review out there -- but he's not some n00b blogger they got off the street.

I am not a big Pogue fan, but he doesn't usually play favorites; I think he's just slamming B&N a little hard because he believes they rushed the nook to market. Interest has been high and B&N largely missed the holiday season anyway, so they probably would've been better off spending a few extra months to get it right than release a slow and buggy device.

By the way, it doesn't matter that the Kindle wasn't first to market, the reality is that they are the market leader in the US, and the best-known device at the moment. It'd almost be like doing a review of the Zune without mentioning the iPod.