New Nook ereader clears the FCC

[barryem]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Umm.. Barry, I read through the entire article before I posted. There is no sales chart. The only chart I saw was market share which showed Samsung's market share declining in 2018 though they did have a 2019F (forecast) which showed Samsung's market share increasing.

I didn't read the article. I googled for images of charts showing sales and I didn't realize that 2019F referred to Forecast. However it does show Samsung's phone sales well above Apples, which was the point.

I'm not sure what this has to do with Nooks. I think I was replying to a comparison of Apple and Samsung sales which was mentioned.

Barry

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by barryem

I didn't read the article. I googled for images of charts showing sales and I didn't realize that 2019F referred to Forecast. However it does show Samsung's phone sales well above Apples, which was the point.

I'm not sure what this has to do with Nooks. I think I was replying to a comparison of Apple and Samsung sales which was mentioned.

Which is like comparing apples to oranges (pun intended) since Apple only competes in the high end of the smartphone market while Samsung covers the low, middle and high end markets. Much like comparing raw auto sales numbers between Toyota and Tesla where a comparison of hybrid/EV sales would be a more useful comparison.

Another item of note is that Samsung is losing the largest number of customers to devices such as the OnePlus 6T, Pixel 3 and Huawei P20/P30 family. Apple owners are less likely to switch since they would have to abandon the Apple ecosystem.

[hollowpoint]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Umm.... [omit]

For another article, check Global market share held by leading smartphone vendors from 4th quarter 2009 to 4th quarter 2018.

Now if I could figure out what this has to do with the new Nook ereader...

"Figures often beguile me," he wrote, "particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'" -- Mark Twain

Originally Posted by DNSB

Which is like comparing apples to oranges (pun intended) since Apple only competes in the high end of the smartphone market while Samsung covers the low, middle and high end markets. Much like comparing raw auto sales numbers between Toyota and Tesla where a comparison of hybrid/EV sales would be a more useful comparison.
[omit]

Struggling with the ironies of (a) citing statistics and then invoking Twain to suggest statistics are subject to manipulation, and (b) stating that the Apple sidebar discussion has nothing to do with the Nook (which is fair enough, btw) and then continuing with analogies between Apple and Toyota sales. But by all means, carry on. :-)

As @Zodwallop asked, trying to return to the topic: :-)
To me, as you mentioned on p1 of the thread, Nook hardware has often had the most thoughtful, reader-centric design and features compared with reading-focused devices such as Kindle and Fire. To take a current example off their site, the Galaxy Tab A (7" Nook tablet) is a nice piece of hardware, optimized for reading regular books with a nearly perfect sized screen, and a lot of value at its price point. And they used to have the very nice Samsung Galaxy S2 8" tablet, also optimized for reading. If it weren't for other issues with BN, I'd choose quality devices like these over a Fire, any day. The problem with BN has never been the hardware but their practices about DRM. Which makes it a hassle to purchase their ebooks, decrypt, and use on any device. Lately it sounds like it has gotten worse. They've been doing this for a long time, and this fact kept me from ever buying a Nook, even though I often admired their hardware and features. All this, plus their more recent, acute financial problems, have gotten me to the point I wouldn't consider one of their devices, despite the nice hardware.

[fjtorres]

The Nook HD+ was a nice media consumption tablet for its time but it was crippled at launch by a lack of content. Tying it to the...sparse... Nook media store was not helpful. By the time B&N gave up fighting users over sideloading and tied it to the Play store they had already started spiraling to disaster and Play store access only served to facilitate the exodus away from the Nook store.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nook_HD

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

Struggling with the ironies of (a) citing statistics and then invoking Twain to suggest statistics are subject to manipulation, and (b) stating that the Apple sidebar discussion has nothing to do with the Nook (which is fair enough, btw) and then continuing with analogies between Apple and Toyota sales. But by all means, carry on. :-)

Hmmm... I seem to remember writing it as an analogy between Apple and Tesla with Toyota playing the role of Samsung.

But thanks for the permission to carry on.

And to continue with the quotes:

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

"—where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise."
Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College
Thomas Grey

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by hollowpoint

As @Zodwallop asked, trying to return to the topic: :-)
To me, as you mentioned on p1 of the thread, Nook hardware has often had the most thoughtful, reader-centric design and features compared with reading-focused devices such as Kindle and Fire.

To me, you're mixing apples and oranges here (pun not intended, but inevitable). When I talk about Nook hardware being better, I mean Nook e-ink devices only.

To take a current example off their site, the Galaxy Tab A (7" Nook tablet) is a nice piece of hardware, optimized for reading regular books with a nearly perfect sized screen, and a lot of value at its price point. And they used to have the very nice Samsung Galaxy S2 8" tablet, also optimized for reading. If it weren't for other issues with BN, I'd choose quality devices like these over a Fire, any day.

I think there's no good reason to bypass a B&N branded tablet. They are just Android tablets at this point, complete with Play Store. I wouldn't buy one because I've got enough tablets. But I wouldn't avoid one just because of B&N's reputation. It won't receive updates if B&N croaks? Most Android tablets get few if any updates anyway.

I bought one of those $50 Fires on a Black Friday sale and don't like it at all. Yeah, you can sideload the Play Store, but why bother when B&N gives it to you out of the box at the same price? And you're still stuck with the crappy Amazon launcher, which I don't think can be changed (at least it couldn't when I still cared enough to check).

The problem with BN has never been the hardware but their practices about DRM. Which makes it a hassle to purchase their ebooks, decrypt, and use on any device. Lately it sounds like it has gotten worse. They've been doing this for a long time, and this fact kept me from ever buying a Nook, even though I often admired their hardware and features. All this, plus their more recent, acute financial problems, have gotten me to the point I wouldn't consider one of their devices, despite the nice hardware.

That's true enough. But of course, there's nothing stopping you from buying a Nook and sideloading your books. That's what I do with both my Nooks and Kobos.

When I bought the Simple Touch w/Glowlight B&N mentioned the openness of the Nook in their marketing materials. And if they didn't advertise their easily crackable 'social DRM', it was at least an open secret.

That all changed with the Nook Glowlight, which ditched the SD card yet not giving the user much room for sideloading. In that same time frame they changed their DRM scheme without notice.

[hollowpoint]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Hmmm... I seem to remember writing it as an analogy between Apple and Tesla with Toyota playing the role of Samsung.

But thanks for the permission to carry on.

And to continue with the quotes:

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

"—where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise."
Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College
Thomas Grey

Methinks the lady doth protest too much.

[olderTechnology]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

When I bought the Simple Touch w/Glowlight B&N mentioned the openness of the Nook in their marketing materials. And if they didn't advertise their easily crackable 'social DRM', it was at least an open secret.

That all changed with the Nook Glowlight, which ditched the SD card yet not giving the user much room for sideloading. In that same time frame they changed their DRM scheme without notice.

Sorry when did B&N ever have a "Social DRM"? I've always needed Calibre to get through their DRM, which used to rely on credit card numbers and stuff.

If they've changed to a harder to crack DRM recently, that's news to me. I rarely buy from them, but I recently bought an expensive academic book that Amazon didn't have, any my existing DeDRM inside of Calibre still decoded it expertly.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by olderTechnology

Sorry when did B&N ever have a "Social DRM"? I've always needed Calibre to get through their DRM, which used to rely on credit card numbers and stuff.

If they've changed to a harder to crack DRM recently, that's news to me. I rarely buy from them, but I recently bought an expensive academic book that Amazon didn't have, any my existing DeDRM inside of Calibre still decoded it expertly.

The Fictionwise/eReader.com, credit card-based DRM, was often referred to as a social DRM because it relied on the credit card number used to buy it. Anybody who knew the number could read the ebook. You could lend an ebook to anybody you trusted with your credit card info.

Very early in the life of Nook, they sold epubs that used that DRM. About a year or so later they switched to a proprietary ADOBE variant and in 2015 they switched away from that one.

https://the-digital-reader.com/2015/...your-business/

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by olderTechnology

Sorry when did B&N ever have a "Social DRM"?

Before March 04, 2015

[olderTechnology]

Thanks for those good answers. I own a lot of Nook books and I've used the pre 2015 and post 2015 versions. But, encrypted files are certainly not within the definition of Social DRM, so it seems misleading to call it that.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by olderTechnology

Thanks for those good answers. I own a lot of Nook books and I've used the pre 2015 and post 2015 versions. But, encrypted files are certainly not within the definition of Social DRM, so it seems misleading to call it that.

You like potato and I like potahto
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off