nook or kindle

[boswd]

Originally Posted by AdrianM

So has anyone come up with an objective comparison of the numbers involved? That is the number of commercial mobi books from Amazon vs the numbers of commercial ePub books from everyone else. Also, the numbers of best sellers available in either format, or say, the numbers available from the top 100 selling authors. And how about the average price differences and discounts between Amazon vs "the others".

As we all know, free ePub/mobi format books that are not DRMed are so trivial to convert to any other format with Calibre that differences in numbers there are not even worth mentioning. Not that DRM really is much of a hurdle anyway.

After having owned both the kindle and nook, my opinion is that ebook availability for either is a non-issue or, in the rare instances it is, it tends to be more of an issue for ePub than mobi.

my point actually wasn't so much for availablity of books on the ePub etc, though that may come in handy to have multiple sources to choose from when looking for an obscure title.

But more to do with having the ability to take advantages of certain sites that run promotions, discounts, coupons, etc.

for example I'm on Kobo's ebookstore emailing list. I get a TON of promotional coupons and save alot of money buying books from their site.
This to me personally has always been the biggest advantage of having ePub.

[ProfCrash]

And those folks who are willing to strip DRM and convert can get all those same benefits.

[Zarich]

Outside of kobo, B&N which can only be shopped nook, and sony most of the other stores meantioned i.e. fictionwise also carry amazon versions of many of their books. I now have free books from baen, smashwords, many and have looked at getting a couple from fictionwise. So I am not sure that the argument stands. Maybe it does. But only half of my books so far have come from amazon.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by Zarich

Outside of kobo, B&N which can only be shopped nook, and sony most of the other stores meantioned i.e. fictionwise also carry amazon versions of many of their books. I now have free books from baen, smashwords, many and have looked at getting a couple from fictionwise. So I am not sure that the argument stands. Maybe it does. But only half of my books so far have come from amazon.

not really sure what part of coupons and promotional deals that seems to missing the target in this argument here.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

And those folks who are willing to strip DRM and convert can get all those same benefits.

hmmm and how about the folk that either aren't willing to strip DRM due ethical or legality reason or ones who just don't know how to do it. I can tell you right now their is no way I could get my father to learn how to strip DRM. But he knows how to click and drag .

[Zarich]

Oh..well boswd.. I don't really buy books. I guess if I bought books I could see your argument. I tend to stick to things that are free. Though I will buy the occasional amazon .99 promo.
In order for me to buy a book I would have to want to have a specific one in a series that I wanted to continue to read. In that case I can see where you are coming from. But those are so rare for me that it doesn't make a big diff.
Also.. unless things are different for ebooks if you have a specific book you want and it is on sale somewhere else contact amazon.. they will usually match it.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by boswd

I can tell you right now their is no way I could get my father to learn how to strip DRM. But he knows how to click and drag .

Click and drag is all it takes now.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by ApK

Click and drag is all it takes now.

it's a little bit more than that

[ApK]

Originally Posted by boswd

it's a little bit more than that

No, it's not.
Presuming that someone else had to install and set up for him whatever he's clicking and dragging in now, then if someone else set up the new software, it's not even a little bit more than that.

That being said, some people can't click and drag, either. My mom can't. She doesn't have a computer.

So if the only point is "some people can't do it", then fine.

Some people would never be able to shop at any store beyond what is integrated into their reader.

Some people can't turn on an e-reader.

However, once again, I'm only addressing the ease-of-use issue, separate from other concerns.
I'm all for choosing the reader that gives you official support for the features that are most important to you.

ApK

[speedlever]

True. Once the initial setup is done, it's that simple. And the initial setup (for PCs) has dramatically improved in the few months I've been hanging around here.

[Serggg]

I've preferred Kindle, simply because that's the only e-reader to which you can send a web page without connecting it to your PC/Mac (via email addr associated with your Kindle). Please correct me if another reader has similar option.

[tponzo]

I was thinking that perhaps the desire to patronize one company vs another was a factor, but why on Earth would you buy a reader from a company if you didn't want to buy books from them?

Hardware vs software.
I love my PRS 900 (hardware) but haven't bought any books from Sonystore since the first few when I first bought my reader. (software).

Promotions and ease of use.
I can get books from Borders, Fictionwise, Smashwords etc. with no problems and for some of them can use coupons or get free books/reduced prices not available on Sony.

Just like the design/build!
SD card support, user replacable battery, touch screen, dictionaries. (I really don't like the D-pad design that Kobo uses)

[ps249]

The whole nook vs kindle debacle comes down to this:

What company do you want to do business with the most?

I actually prefer Barnes and Noble simply because there is a store in just about any major town USA. They are only 2 years in the online business but things are still looking good for them. Last I heard B&n commands roughly 25% of the ebook business.

[speedlever]

Originally Posted by ps249

The whole nook vs kindle debacle comes down to this:

What company do you want to do business with the most?

snip

Not to me, it didn't. I decided that the ereader device was most important to me. If I didn't like using the device, I wouldn't use it very much and it would be a waste of money. I saw pretty quickly that I would not care for the touch screen navigation of the Nook (and the Nook was going to be my first choice until I began looking into EBRs and found what was available.)

When I discovered that I preferred the operation and usage of the Kindle, I also discovered some perceived limitations of the K3 (lack of library support which is no longer an issue, lack of epub, etc.) So I investigated what it would take to overcome that. I learned how to borrow library books on the K3, buy ebooks from almost any source and convert for use on the K3, and the perceived limitations vanished. Then I bought the K3. Two of them.

So now I buy books from Amazon, B&N, Borders, Baen, Smashwords, etc. and have more to read than I can possibly get to for the next few years... unless I totally vegetate.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by speedlever

Not to me, it didn't. I decided that the ereader device was most important to me. If I didn't like using the device, I wouldn't use it very much and it would be a waste of money. I saw pretty quickly that I would not care for the touch screen navigation of the Nook (and the Nook was going to be my first choice until I began looking into EBRs and found what was available.)
)

I agree. I like both Amazon and B&N so it came down to device features, design and price for us.

If the feature's that are important to you are similar on both, then I could see choosing primarily based on the company.