B & N Nook labelled "Unrevolutionary"

[pshrynk]

Could I just put in a plea here to keep this thread about the Nook and it's reviews and not go off into the evils of DRM? Thanks!

[Daithi]

Originally Posted by =X=

Not even close the LendMe is a hack solution for a inappropriate constraint on the consumer. A feature that allows one to lend a book once for only 14 days is nothing to get excited about. Also we haven't seen how LendMe works. More than likely the person that you share a book with will need an account on B&N and have a device that supports eReader.

TTS however allows one to read a book via a different process. This works with and without DRM and enhances the reading experience (Okay some might argue otherwise).

Sell a DRM less item and TTS still has value where as LendMe is obsoleted.

If LendMe applied to all books on the B&N site and if you could relend a book then this would be a huge selling point -- even if you could only lend to other Nook owners.

I myself would start a website where people could post which books they have for lending and which books they would like to borrow.

I wish Amazon had something like this, but my guess is that publishers would opt out.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

Not a matter of deserve. I lend and give away books all the time, including ones that I'm not supposed to. On the inside of many paper books:
Quote:
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent.

I can appreciate everyone's interest in making their quick buck, but the kind of gimmicky garbage being put forward as book usage emulation limitations are just ridiculous.

lent? really?
I've never seen that in a book!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

lent? really?
I've never seen that in a book!

I don't think I have either now that you mention it.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

I can appreciate everyone's interest in making their quick buck, but the kind of gimmicky garbage being put forward as book usage emulation limitations are just ridiculous.

Wow, someone ate their Cranky Flakes today.

It seems to me more like this is an intelligent way to restore the right to lend a book to the consumer. You will need almost certainly need a B&N account, but lent ebooks will work with their PC and smartphone software, so you don't need to spend a single thin dime to read a lent B&N book if you don't want to. It's building off of the same concept as how a library works, except that the books get returned automatically and you don't have to worry about librarians giving you dirty looks and fining you when you bring the book back late.

DRM-free would be better, and that may happen one day -- heck if the music industry has accepted the loss of DRM, books could do it as well. But that's not going to happen any time soon. In the interim this seems like a great way to address one major concern about ebooks.

P.S. the color LCD bar seems like a gimmick to me, but lending does not.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by juj1n

haha we know It sounded like we were flaming you but we're not

Don't shoot the messenger hehe

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Don't shoot the messenger hehe

I was beginning to feel a bit singed!

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

P.S. the color LCD bar seems like a gimmick to me, but lending does not.

Eh? It's absolutely key to the offering. It's not only a way to offer a virtual keyboard and a responsive interface, but a way to handle the issues surrounding touchscreens and readability!

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

Eh? It's absolutely key to the offering. It's not only a way to offer a virtual keyboard and a responsive interface, but a way to handle the issues surrounding touchscreens and readability!

Meh

It's hard to say before actually trying it, but it looks to me like a gimmick to get some color on the device. Looks like a power hog, not to mention so far it's unclear how you select text for things like dictionary access.

I'm reasonably confident it will work fairly well. But the instant they figure out how to do an eInk touch screen that doesn't mess up the contrast, the B&N split screen will seem like a relic.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

Meh

It's hard to say before actually trying it, but it looks to me like a gimmick to get some color on the device. Looks like a power hog, not to mention so far it's unclear how you select text for things like dictionary access.

It's intended to be the main interface for controlling the device. The color cover thumbnails are a cosmetic feature and not the full extent. I don't believe the nook has buttons and such like other readers. The intent was all features controllable by touch. The B&N designers at the presentation said they had worked hard on optimizing power use, so I have to assume the color bar will not be an enormous drain.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Daithi

If LendMe applied to all books on the B&N site and if you could relend a book then this would be a huge selling point -- even if you could only lend to other Nook owners.

<...>

I wish Amazon had something like this, but my guess is that publishers would opt out.

I'm not sure it occurred to Amazon. B&N is trying to replicate what a reader with a paper book can do. If I have a paper book, I can lend it to you and you can read it, but while it's lent out I don't have it. Two people can't read the same paper book at the same time unless they are sitting close together and looking at the same copy.

But B&N can't do this by themselves. The publisher has to allow lending of the book. If they aren't willing to license that right to B&N, B&N can't permit it on the device. B&N stated in their announcement that lendable books would be identified in their catalog. We'll see as time passes which books are lendable, and which publishers embrace the concept.
______
Dennis

[jasonkchapman]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The publisher has to allow lending of the book.

Exactly! And the fact that B&N managed to get this much of a concession from any of the major houses is a testament to their 600-pound-gorillaness in the market space.

We seem to go through this every time a new feature/restriction couplet appears on a device. E-book reading systems (roughly: hardware/software/delivery mechanism) are always balancing acts. They've got end user demands on one side and publisher demands on the other. Folks like B&N are trying to find a way to get both ends to meet in the middle, while still making money.

In one sense, B&N, Sony, Amazon, etc. are acting as consumer advocates in the e-book space, trying to get concessions out of publishers to meet the demands of consumers. The more concessions they can get from the publishers, the more features they can offer.

Eventually, the publishers will come around, but it's an incremental change.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

Exactly! And the fact that B&N managed to get this much of a concession from any of the major houses is a testament to their 600-pound-gorillaness in the market space.

Or a testament to publisher desperation.

The ones against are terrified of anything that might cost them a sale. The ones in favor are hoping lending might generate a sale.

Unfortunately, this feature has a long way to go to be as useful as it might be. A reply from a moderator on a Barnes and Noble forum about the nook confirmed what th4e FAQ seemed to say: that not all books were lendable, and those that were could be lent once, for a 14 day period. So if I lend a book on my nook to you to read on yours, I can't then lend it to anyone else, even after you're done with it. This does not replicate the paper book experience, where serial lending is possible.

We seem to go through this every time a new feature/restriction couplet appears on a device. E-book reading systems (roughly: hardware/software/delivery mechanism) are always balancing acts. They've got end user demands on one side and publisher demands on the other. Folks like B&N are trying to find a way to get both ends to meet in the middle, while still making money.

Exactly.

In one sense, B&N, Sony, Amazon, etc. are acting as consumer advocates in the e-book space, trying to get concessions out of publishers to meet the demands of consumers. The more concessions they can get from the publishers, the more features they can offer.

Eventually, the publishers will come around, but it's an incremental change.

Agreed, and some publishers may go belly up before actually learning useful lessons.
______
Dennis

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

Or a testament to publisher desperation.

The ones against are terrified of anything that might cost them a sale. The ones in favor are hoping lending might generate a sale.

Unfortunately, this feature has a long way to go to be as useful as it might be. A reply from a moderator on a Barnes and Noble forum about the nook confirmed what th4e FAQ seemed to say: that not all books were lendable, and those that were could be lent once, for a 14 day period. So if I lend a book on my nook to you to read on yours, I can't then lend it to anyone else, even after you're done with it. This does not replicate the paper book experience, where serial lending is possible.


Dennis

ah the ol' glass half-full or half-empty thing.

So very true. I guess my thought on this though is that it's not more likely to generate a sale than would be the ability to download or read an excerpt from the book. I suspect that most readers would read the book (i.e. finish it) and not bother to purchase it themselves. Currently like borrowing from the library. In some case of course it would result in an additional sale, but probably not as many as from the excerpt kind of thing.

I think the "one-time" lone thing is messed up.

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I suspect that most readers would read the book (i.e. finish it) and not bother to purchase it themselves.

Yea, but per Baen, that can generate sales of other titles by the same author and other titles in the same series (even if by different authors).