The Nook: What should they have called it? - Page 7

jasonkchapman · 11-01-2009, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Yeah, and "Nook" has "nookie" all over it....now THATS silly!

Well, romance readers were one of the first groups to embrace e-books in large numbers....

GraceKrispy · 11-01-2009, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LazyScot

I believe there are numerous course available to improve one's aim.... I hope the collateral damage didn't get you into trouble.

Well, sign me up, then!!

Steven Lyle Jordan · 11-02-2009, 12:26 PM

It occurred to me last night: If I was going to name such a device, I might choose the name of a famous and respected author... something like Twain, or Shakespeare, or Dickens. As I thought about it more, I decided I liked Dickens, who was noted for bringing the "common man" and lower classes into his stories as few had before him... a laudable and desirable facility for an e-book reader.

Also, it opens up the PR gates to comments about "the little Dickens."

pshrynk · 11-15-2009, 11:08 AM

We could call it the Jordan...

wodin · 11-15-2009, 03:51 PM

Would that be the river? Or the basketball player?

pshrynk · 11-15-2009, 04:13 PM

I was thinking that world famous SF writer...

fugazied · 11-15-2009, 04:34 PM

The nookie (consults urban dictionary). erm maybe not.

I am guessing the 'B&N book-e' was taken. Any variation on the term ebook combined with the B&N name would have worked.

GraceKrispy · 11-15-2009, 08:49 PM

Hmm... how about "the little black book" or is that one taken too?

The new kindle commercial is catchy, but somehow I never remember itʻs for kindle. I always think itʻs for deodorant or something...

kindlekitten · 11-16-2009, 02:03 AM

the fount or tree... as in of knowledge...

Steven Lyle Jordan · 11-17-2009, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pshrynk

I was thinking that world famous SF writer...

My ears should be burning... but strangely, they're not...

Simon Wood · 11-18-2009, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

Okay, I think we're all in agreement here that Nook is a pretty silly name for an e-book reading device. So far, the only likely explanation I've heard is that B&N's guys are Dr. Seuss fans, as this quote from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish suggests:

...and I'm almost buying it. But it still sucks as a reader name.

So come on, MobileReaders: Let's have some good names for a B&N e-book reading device! Serious or silly, I don't really care... it can't possibly be any worse than what they gave us!

I have a similar issue with the Kindle. What is a Kindle? It makes about must sense at the Nook. I'm reminded of when Eastman started Kodak, he invented the word that would make people take notice. For B&N, I don't think Nook is that word.

Maybe they should have gone with the uRead and started a whole line of U-gadgets...

GraceKrispy · 11-19-2009, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Wood

I have a similar issue with the Kindle. What is a Kindle? It makes about must sense at the Nook. I'm reminded of when Eastman started Kodak, he invented the word that would make people take notice. For B&N, I don't think Nook is that word.

Maybe they should have gone with the uRead and started a whole line of U-gadgets...

After some extra consideration, Iʻve decided I really like the name Kindle and I really like the name Nook. Now I wish my reader had a more pleasant, comforting name than "Sony."

So letʻs rename the sony instead!

wayrad · 11-19-2009, 08:58 AM

If it were named after a classic author, a common emotional response to the name would likely be "Oh, that stuff I had to read in school" or "only for highbrows", which is probably not what B&N was aiming at. And naming it after a modern author would appeal to readers of that author or genre, but might be a turnoff for others. I suspect "Nook" was intended to evoke a more general warm-and-fuzzy idea of reading as a refuge, a cosy little place to get away from the world. And any, um, alternate meanings would at least relate to activities that are generally regarded in a positive light.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 11-19-2009, 09:25 AM

Yeah, I get that.

My feeling, though, is that most people--even most readers--cannot directly relate to that idea, because they've never had a "nook" to do their reading in. To me, Nook also seems a bit elitist, something for special people who can devote spaces to one thing and one thing only, lock themselves away and get away from it all. I suspect that, the more corporations try to make us think we need a special space just for reading, the fewer readers there will be.

I think the name should have evoked a different experience, a desire to read, to learn, to be entertained... as opposed to a place to do that. In that light, I'd say the name "Kindle" evokes that idea much better than "Nook" does. But then, maybe B&N were specifically thinking of the parallels, and trying for a name that denoted a place and specifically not an act or emotion.

I just don't think it worked.

(Anyway, since I now know I can download a book from B&N and read it on my iPaq, I'll never buy a Nook, or a Kindle, and it probably doesn't matter a whit what I think.

)

wayrad · 11-19-2009, 10:43 AM

For me it doesn't evoke the foreign concept of a special place to do my reading, but rather the familiar one of a special place inside my head.

But as you say, it may not succeed for everyone.

P.S. Perhaps they could've called it the Portal, because it opens the doors of literature, and sounds a bit like "portable". It's not a particularly attention-grabbing or euphonious word, though. (Speaking of which, I've always admired the name of the PalmOS text adventure interpreter CellarDoor. Not only did they use what has been claimed to be the most euphonious phrase in the English language, but it's incredibly appropriate for a genre so closely associated with dungeon crawls!)

11-19-2009, 10:43 AM	#105
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	For me it doesn't evoke the foreign concept of a special place to do my reading, but rather the familiar one of a special place inside my head. But as you say, it may not succeed for everyone. P.S. Perhaps they could've called it the Portal, because it opens the doors of literature, and sounds a bit like "portable". It's not a particularly attention-grabbing or euphonious word, though. (Speaking of which, I've always admired the name of the PalmOS text adventure interpreter CellarDoor. Not only did they use what has been claimed to be the most euphonious phrase in the English language, but it's incredibly appropriate for a genre so closely associated with dungeon crawls!) Last edited by wayrad; 11-19-2009 at 10:55 AM.

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11-02-2009, 12:26 PM	#93
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	It occurred to me last night: If I was going to name such a device, I might choose the name of a famous and respected author... something like Twain, or Shakespeare, or Dickens. As I thought about it more, I decided I liked Dickens, who was noted for bringing the "common man" and lower classes into his stories as few had before him... a laudable and desirable facility for an e-book reader. Also, it opens up the PR gates to comments about "the little Dickens."

11-15-2009, 11:08 AM	#94
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	We could call it the Jordan...

11-15-2009, 03:51 PM	#95
wodin Illiterate Posts: 10,279 Karma: 37848716 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: The Sandwich Isles Device: Samsung Galaxy S10+, Microsoft Surface Pro	Would that be the river? Or the basketball player?

11-15-2009, 04:13 PM	#96
pshrynk Beepbeep n beebeep, yeah! Posts: 11,726 Karma: 8255450 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: La Crosse, Wisconsin, aka America's IceBox Device: iThingie, KmkII, I miss Zelda!	I was thinking that world famous SF writer...

11-15-2009, 04:34 PM	#97
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	The nookie (consults urban dictionary). erm maybe not. I am guessing the 'B&N book-e' was taken. Any variation on the term ebook combined with the B&N name would have worked.

11-15-2009, 08:49 PM	#98
GraceKrispy It's Dr. Penguin now! Posts: 3,909 Karma: 4705733 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: (USA) Device: iPad mini, Samsung Note 3, Sony PRS-650 (rarely used now)	Hmm... how about "the little black book" or is that one taken too? The new kindle commercial is catchy, but somehow I never remember itʻs for kindle. I always think itʻs for deodorant or something...

11-16-2009, 02:03 AM	#99
kindlekitten Professional Adventuress Posts: 13,368 Karma: 50260224 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!) Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle	the fount or tree... as in of knowledge...

11-19-2009, 08:58 AM	#103
wayrad Fanatic Posts: 551 Karma: 1121392 Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Device: HTC One M8	If it were named after a classic author, a common emotional response to the name would likely be "Oh, that stuff I had to read in school" or "only for highbrows", which is probably not what B&N was aiming at. And naming it after a modern author would appeal to readers of that author or genre, but might be a turnoff for others. I suspect "Nook" was intended to evoke a more general warm-and-fuzzy idea of reading as a refuge, a cosy little place to get away from the world. And any, um, alternate meanings would at least relate to activities that are generally regarded in a positive light.

11-19-2009, 09:25 AM	#104
Steven Lyle Jordan Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,478 Karma: 5171130 Join Date: Jan 2006 Device: none	Yeah, I get that. My feeling, though, is that most people--even most readers--cannot directly relate to that idea, because they've never had a "nook" to do their reading in. To me, Nook also seems a bit elitist, something for special people who can devote spaces to one thing and one thing only, lock themselves away and get away from it all. I suspect that, the more corporations try to make us think we need a special space just for reading, the fewer readers there will be. I think the name should have evoked a different experience, a desire to read, to learn, to be entertained... as opposed to a place to do that. In that light, I'd say the name "Kindle" evokes that idea much better than "Nook" does. But then, maybe B&N were specifically thinking of the parallels, and trying for a name that denoted a place and specifically not an act or emotion. I just don't think it worked. (Anyway, since I now know I can download a book from B&N and read it on my iPaq, I'll never buy a Nook, or a Kindle, and it probably doesn't matter a whit what I think. )

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