Classic David Pogue (New York Times) on the Nook

[Loopy65]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/te...er=rss&emc=rss

It really doesn't seem the Nook will be much of a challenger for any of the other e-reader suppliers

Loopy

[gigercounter]

Originally Posted by Loopy65

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/te...er=rss&emc=rss

It really doesn't seem the Nook will be much of a challenger for any of the other e-reader suppliers

Loopy

Well perhaps this one will make you feel much better:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=2232

Dont take the negative reviews to heart. There is nothing that cannot be fixed with an update.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by gigercounter

Dont take the negative reviews to heart. There is nothing that cannot be fixed with an update.

Except the price, the time lost waiting for the update, the interim reading experience (if poor), and other intangibles. A lot of the "features" of the nook, touted by B&N, apparently aren't working/available now but are coming. Not a good start.

True that most of nook's problems can probably be fixed with a firmware update (jury is out on this one until the update arrives) but then many people are still waiting for updates for their devices to fix problems other devices have. It isn't a good idea, I don't think, to put your faith in a vaporware update; better to buy a device that does what you want -- at least at minimum -- out of the box.

I was interested, for example, in the forthcoming Irex DSG800, but when (and if) it is released, I will not buy it because part of what I was looking for in the device supposedly will come in a firmware update that might never be.

[rwizard]

Originally Posted by rhadin

I was interested, for example, in the forthcoming Irex DSG800, but when (and if) it is released, I will not buy it because part of what I was looking for in the device supposedly will come in a firmware update that might never be.

I would say this is particularly worrisome with Irex. Their most recent reader, the 1000, is still advertised to have something like a week of battery life, but this is only true if you use it about an hour a day. They have promised a fix in software but none has materialized yet. I could say more about Irex but this is the wrong thread. The point is that while updates that will fix these things are likely; however, when or if they will actually be fixed is not known until it happens. The only good news is that B&N does not have a history of not fixing issues like Irex (although they do not have a history of fixing things in a timely manner either of course)

[stangri]

Pogue's review is almost pure crap. From most of his expressions I get a feeling he's had his mind set on trashing the nook and been trying to find ways to accomplish it.

While there're a few valid points, the general tone of the article is to aggressive to be taken seriously. Here're a few examples.

It takes nearly three seconds to turn a page — three times longer than the Kindle — which is really disruptive if you’re in midsentence.

Even tho it's a bit slower than PRS-505, there's no reason to overhype it. Really disruptive? The amazon.com fully loads on my computer in about 3 seconds, the NYT we-site takes even more than that -- does that make my internet browsing experience that bad? Also, unlike Pogue I'm not a goldfish and my short-term memory exceeds 3 seconds.

It takes four seconds for the Settings panel to open, 18 seconds for the bookstore to appear (over Wi-Fi)

I have one of the recent Macbook Pro models and the System Preferences app takes about 2 seconds to fully draw from the moment it appears in Dock. So nook is 1-2 seconds slower to draw its settings, so what? Even if it took it 30 seconds -- how often do you go to settings to even mention that in a review? For example, iPhone 3GS (which Pogue loves afaik), loads the amazon.com over wifi not that well ahead of 18 seconds and that's one of the key features of the device. That'd be comparable to nook switching a page in 18 seconds.

What about the Nook’s built-in Wi-Fi? It’s there, but you get no notification when you’re in a hot spot. And if the hot spot requires a login or welcome screen, you can’t get onto it.

That's weird, as I clearly see the visual notification of a connected hot spot. If Pogue meant there's no notification for the unknown hot spots -- I kind of like that there's none, imaging your reading experience being constantly interrupted when people around you open up their notebooks with ad-hoc networks (which plagued Windows not so long ago). Not to mention the battery drain with constant wifi sniffing.

The software isn’t even smart enough to ignore little words like “a” and “the” when alphabetizing; “Pride and Prejudice” comes before “The New York Times.”

Ah, I see the root of the problem.

But I bet he'd be singing a different tune if subscription to NYT was available from nook.

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by stangri

Ah, I see the root of the problem. But I bet he'd be singing a different tune if subscription to NYT was available from nook.

The NYT is supposed to be available by subscription on the nook? Isn't it?

[Musicman]

Originally Posted by rhadin

The NYT is supposed to be available by subscription on the nook? Isn't it?

Why would you want another fantasy magazine

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by stangri

But I bet he'd be singing a different tune if subscription to NYT was available from nook.

Or if his books were available on the nook, instead of just the Kindle store.

[Alpha_Cluster]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

Or if his books were available on the nook, instead of just the Kindle store.

Eh I don't know if that means anything. His books could easily be added the the B&N Store its not that hard.

More likely it has to do with the fact that a BOOKSTORE is making the nook which really should make people wonder more. Now let me explain what i mean. Lets look at how the Kindle was made. Amazon made their own little Lab126 which was a group of engineer's and software people to do the Kindle. Now so far all we know about the B&N nook is it uses android 1.5 and Adobe ADE oh and that the software is rather slow. From the perspective of someone who follows tech news a lot this looks more and more like a device that some underfunded development team has thrown together then the change the world product we were all being told was coming out.

I had pre-ordered the nook but after the delays (mine was set to supposedly be here the 22nd) i gave up on it mostly do to the fact that i came to this realization. That patch that could solve all? Who will it come from? B&N? Google? Or Adobe?

In the end i don't want to sound like a nook hater. I love the idea of the device i just cannot have faith in it any more as it does not seem as though B&N knows what they are doing anymore. I just hope in this case i am wrong and they just had an unfortunate series of events that caused the delay and poor quality software.

[stangri]

If you live in US, want connectivity from your e-ink reader and don't mind the physical keyboard -- I don't think there's a better device than Kindle.
If you hate a physical keyboard, travel internationally and don't want to pay to be able to download your stuff while overseas (or have a weak mobile signal in your house) or have faith in Android and community -- get the nook.
If you already have a Sony PRS reader (especially 505, 300 or 600) I don't see why would you want to change a reader now tho. Considering you've already managed to acquire and load content for your reader for quite some time, why get another gadget?
I did tho, I did get a nook, because I have a faith (well, I'm also a nerd, so why not?).

[stangri]

Originally Posted by rhadin

The NYT is supposed to be available by subscription on the nook? Isn't it?

Last time I check it wasn't. It's slim pickings when it comes to selection of periodicals currently available for nook, unless you live in Chicago or very interested in the front-line Christian edition (but then you'd be in Church today and not reading this message).

PS. Sorry, I thought the forum software will automatically merge two consecutive replies, but it didn't.

[Alpha_Cluster]

Originally Posted by stangri

Last time I check it wasn't. It's slim pickings when it comes to selection of periodicals currently available for nook, unless you live in Chicago or very interested in the front-line Christian edition (but then you'd be in Church today and not reading this message). .

Actually on the nook blog they pointed out they would "start" showing up last week so i am assuming eventually the New York Times and whatnot will show up... As for moving from a Sony to anything else. Well its easy to move to a nook from a Sony and personally i just am lucky and rarely bought anything from the Sony store i think my switch ill only lose like $20-$30 in books which is not a huge loss in the scheme of things.

[rwizard]

Originally Posted by Alpha_Cluster

Actually on the nook blog they pointed out they would "start" showing up last week so i am assuming eventually the New York Times and whatnot will show up... As for moving from a Sony to anything else. Well its easy to move to a nook from a Sony and personally i just am lucky and rarely bought anything from the Sony store i think my switch ill only lose like $20-$30 in books which is not a huge loss in the scheme of things.

You should not even loose that much unless the books in question are no longer available on the sony store, they switched to EPUB with Adobe DRM on 12/11/2009 is my understanding so you just need to re-download the ebooks in queston and they should work fine on the nook.

[Alpha_Cluster]

Yes if your switching to the nook i ended up switching to the Kindle though since my nook was delayed to the point that i did not believe i would get it in time (day before Christmas eve btw). But yeah anyone with Sony books is in a good spot with Sony moving to epub. Just waiting on Amazon now the last real bastion of the proprietary format war.