Consumer Reports: Nook Beats The Kindle

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

The major reason that ebooks were created were to help the disabled...

I'm afraid I really can't agree with you. I honestly don't believe that "helping the disabled" was even the tiniest consideration behind the creation of eBooks.

But touch screens don't rule out blind users. I'm sure you've seen, for example, what a superb interface the iPad offers for the blind user "out of the box". It's won all sorts of praise from blind organisations for that.

[ucfgrad93]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid I really can't agree with you. I honestly don't believe that "helping the disabled" was even the tiniest consideration behind the creation of eBooks.

Have to agree with you here.

[stickybuns]

Originally Posted by OtterBooks

The only thing that will cause me to buy a newer Kindle is a significant screen quality improvement. Otherwise, my K3 is 'mission accomplished' for ebooks.

Yeah, I'm more interested in seeing what the K5 or K6 will do as well as the next generation Nooks, Kobos, and Sonys.

When I was trying to decide on an ereader, it came down to which extra feature I wanted more: the prs-350's touchscreen or the Kindle's 3G coverage and web browser? I'm a habitual fact checker when I read, so the Kindle won that battle easily. I'll take another look at touchscreen e-ink readers if/when they behave more like a multi-touch LCD screen reader and the ghosting issues have been eliminated.

Regarding the Kindle's keyboard (Does anyone else like adding notes to books? I do it all the time!): While the keys do feel a bit clicky/clunky to type on, I like that a minimal amount of screen real estate is utilized while typing notes. On the touchscreen readers that I've seen, the screen gets swallowed up by the virtual keyboard and textbox. I like being able to still read the portion of text where I'm adding my note.

[CleverClothe]

Originally Posted by Daithi

Since you are kind of locked in when you buy an eReader I'd be leary about locking into the Nook (although it does run the Amazon reader app so maybe that's not a huge deal).

Funny you should say that, because you aren't locked in on the Nook, but you are with the Kindle.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid I really can't agree with you. I honestly don't believe that "helping the disabled" was even the tiniest consideration behind the creation of eBooks.

But touch screens don't rule out blind users. I'm sure you've seen, for example, what a superb interface the iPad offers for the blind user "out of the box". It's won all sorts of praise from blind organisations for that.

Maybe the current ones were not created for the disabled, but the creation of them was:

From here:

"ebooks were created by the blind, then made inaccessible by the sighted."

Online text formats like DAISY and EPUB were pioneered in part by the accessibility movement as an alternative to expensive and cumbersome Braille texts. As ebooks have gained popularity, however, digital text became inexorably less accessible as for-profit readers like the Kindle and Sony Reader muscled onto the scene. A patina of digital rights management (DRM) has been added in order to protect the intellectual property of vendors, contrary to the open and accessible orientation libraries have long held toward literacy and learning.

ETA: Yes, I have heard about the updates to the Apple products. The problem with that set up is that the Apple products have a glass interface. If any accidents occur only a sighted person can see/avoid cracks, etc. There is also the assorted issues with lugging around an iPad that the sighted have, too. It's heavy, clunky and much more breakable than most of the dedicated devices.

My cousin does have an iPhone which she loves. Previous OS did not allow for the required changes to the system to allow for speech so she couldn't have one in the past.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by Daithi

According to an article at Business Insider, the new Nook beats the last generation Kindle.

There, fixed that for you.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

There, fixed that for you.

is there a new generation kindle available right now, today?OMG it must be Magical, I bet it just works. Where can we behold such a striking and life changing device. Where oh where?

[Andrew H.]

I thought this was interesting (from the CR article):

Updates to firmware might eventually allow Kindle to reclaim its top rank in our Ratings. Among the pluses that allowed the Simple Touch to edge ahead of the Kindle was its support for e-book loans from public libraries, but Amazon has announced that it will bring library loans to the Kindle later this year; assuming it's implemented well, that functionality might boost Amazon's e-book reader by the few points that now separate it from the Simple Touch.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I thought this was interesting (from the CR article):

So it won/was pushed over the edge by a feature that wasn't even new?

LOL

[Pomtroll]

Having a Sony reader as my favorite reader, I'm more interested in the last paragraph in the article. Certainly hope they are correct.

[susan_cassidy]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

Maybe the current ones were not created for the disabled, but the creation of them was:

"ebooks were created by the blind, then made inaccessible by the sighted."

DAISY is apparently an audio format, not the same as an ebook, and EPUB was created after ebooks had already been around for several years, so I don't think that is really accurate.

It's funny how many differences there are between what people on the forum like. For example, lots of people seem to like the 2-page landscape format, but I don't see the point. Why display 2 pages side-by-side, smaller than the one-page display? I can only read one page at a time, anyway.

I definitely agree with Harry that if they go to a touch screen on the Kindle, I still want my page turn buttons.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

DAISY is apparently an audio format, not the same as an ebook, and EPUB was created after ebooks had already been around for several years, so I don't think that is really accurate.

I'll have to check with my cousin regarding that. IIRC, the original ebooks and their models (including the more recent EPUB) were created by software developmental teams with at least 1 blind liaison - they were trying help with the braille issues.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

lots of people seem to like the 2-page landscape format, but I don't see the point. Why display 2 pages side-by-side, smaller than the one-page display? I can only read one page at a time, anyway.

indeed. It's good for comics and magazines though, which only make sense anyway in color LCD displays.

[newlaza]

Originally Posted by boswd

is there a new generation kindle available right now, today?OMG it must be Magical, I bet it just works. Where can we behold such a striking and life changing device. Where oh where?

I think he was making the point that all these comparisons between the new Nook and Kindle are sort of lopsided as the K3 is 9 months old now.

[Sonny Blount]

Originally Posted by boswd

well I think we are going to have to agree to disagree agree, being able to sync your books across devices to me is a major techn. advancement. being able to plug my phone into my car's computer and have it give me a read out is technological advancement , Being able to lock up my house and turn on my security system , 10,000 miles away is a tech. advancement.

Giving me a better contrast ratio is nothing to pop open a bottle of the bubbly over. at least IMHO.

I think very little could make a bigger difference or be more noticable to the consumer.

The quality of the display is part of why most of my family converted en masse to the Kindle 3 rather than read on iPads or other ereaders.

The other technology aspect that made a big difference with the K3 and could again make a noticably superior reading experience on the K4 is speed of page turns.

And I'm another who will be stamping my feet in protest if the K4 is touchscreen.