Touch My thoughts on the Nook Simple Touch Reader

[DSpider]

First of all, what the hell?? It looks like a frigging iPod touch. Just look at that home button. So, SO much lack of originality. Dude, it has a touch screen! Use it! Add a return button (maybe even gesture-based) on the frigging screen! I also don't understand the use of flipping buttons when you have a god damn touch screen. Is it so you won't smear the screen, leave fingerprints? Then use oleophobic coating, ffs!

Another physical characteristic that irks me is the bezel size. God... When will they release a BORDERLESS e-Ink reader already? Don't tell me about accidentally triggering something just by holding it, there are ways around that (3 finger gestures, screen locking except for the bottom corners and more).

Wow... 2 GB. But wait! It's not actually 2 GB, no. According to this article, it has 1 GB out of which you can only use 250 MB for your own content. Oh, the joy... Why would I want an external card when 1 GB internal should be sufficient for about 15 books, which would probably last me 4 months or so?


But anyway...

I think they're definitely heading in the right direction. Except... after seeing how much it costs in my country I think I would rather add another 50% and get a new iPod touch (8 GB), with the new "Retina" display. Then I could enjoy much more content than just e-books. Like podcasts, TV shows, comic books, manga, casual games, organizing apps, educational apps, etc.

IMO, the ideal reader would be borderless, comes in classic paper colour (meaning a very light brown on the front, dark brown on the back, with screen colour matching the bezel so you can't see where the screen begins and where it ends), that doesn't have anything except a 3.5 mm jack for USB connection, recharging (through USB) and, obviously, audio out. Meaning it will also be completely water proof. Absolutely no buttons, no card slots, docking slots, none of the silliness. At most it can have a tactile sensor that would wake it up, tho it could also be done by shaking the device, double taping the screen after it (automatically) goes to sleep, etc.

Alternatively it comes with two screens linked together with some sort of cable strip. Same light brown colour on the front but with a brown leather case this time, that closes just like a real book and which makes use of magnets to keep it closed, kinda like the iPad case.

So yeah. There you have it... Make it happen, Barnes & Noble !


PS: I did, however, enjoy the part where they took a stab at the Kindle. "Unlike other eReaders that restrict your reading, NOOK lets you borrow books in the universally accepted ePub format—so you can read what you want from your local public library." Hahaha. It would be SO easy for Amazon to add ePub support (since it's basically very similar to what they use). But they're being stubborn about it and they deserve it.

[VicLavigne]

Just to respond to a few things in your critique:

250Mb should hold quite a few ebooks, way more than the 15 you cite. Most of my ebooks average about 300k to 500k in size, so as a conservative estimate 250mb should hold maybe 500 or more ebooks. Exceptions for books with lots of graphics.

The physical button. I don't own any touchscreen devices that wake up from sleep by touching the screen or shaking the device, all my devices wake up by pushing a button. The Nook button is both a wake-up button and a home-screen button. I'm not sure why that is a problem. I don't own an iPad, but the last one I tried out operated the same way, waking up by a button.....

iPod touch vs Nook. If you like LCD screens, then this might be just the ticket for you. Personally, I and a lot of other readers prefer e-ink, which is why I don't enjoy reading on my droid phone, netbook, or my Nook Color as well as the Nook STR. But to each his own.

And really, no card slots? I can't even buy a waterproof cell phone, and you are demanding a waterproof ereader? I like my SD card slot, it gives me the option for how much extra room I want to add.

Vic

[mcooke66]

A touch screen device with no buttons. I have not seen one of those maybe you can help out there.

Page turn buttons are an option that MANY people require, having both is just good design.

No border - I have the NST and without the wide border I would have very few options on how to hold it. Anyone who has read for a long time with an ereader knows that comfort in your hands is absolutely one of the most important things. As far as accidentally triggering something on the screen, all the ways around it reduce the usability of the touch screen. If I need 3 fingers or a magic code to turn pages I will just demand more buttons. I think even you would hate the results of this design.

The division of memory on board has irked many folks but when put in perspective of a 10 dollar sd card to expand to 4 gigs, it is really a non issue.

Waterproof - I think that is just wishful thinking but hey I would like that as well.

Interesting list but IMO mostly impractical, I think B&N did most things right in the design especially considering they actually want to please the biggest audience they can.

[DSpider]

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

250Mb should hold quite a few ebooks, way more than the 15 you cite. Most of my ebooks average about 300k to 500k in size, so as a conservative estimate 250mb should hold maybe 500 or more ebooks. Exceptions for books with lots of graphics.

I have a 380 MB cook book in PDF format. The largest PDF I have ever come across was 699 MB. I think it was a National Geographic magazine with high quality photographs, which was probably meant to fit on a CD.

Originally Posted by VicLavigne

And really, no card slots? I can't even buy a waterproof cell phone, and you are demanding a waterproof ereader? I like my SD card slot, it gives me the option for how much extra room I want to add.

Waterproofing can be done. The less buttons or wholes in it, the better. And why would you want tons of extra room for? The thing doesn't even read audio files... You said it yourself it should hold 500 books, or more (which I seriously doubt, but whatever). Photos maybe? Some manga? I hear they're great on e-Ink, being in black & white and all. Except for the covers, obviously... And maybe a few bonus colour chapters here and there.

Originally Posted by mcooke66

No border - I have the NST and without the wide border I would have very few options on how to hold it. Anyone who has read for a long time with an ereader knows that comfort in your hands is absolutely one of the most important things. As far as accidentally triggering something on the screen, all the ways around it reduce the usability of the touch screen. If I need 3 fingers or a magic code to turn pages I will just demand more buttons. I think even you would hate the results of this design.

They could lock the entire screen except for selective areas, for example the bottom corners. They could also add a swipe gesture - because you don't swipe your fingers accross the screen when you hold it, do you? Or they could simply add a gyroscope so when you quickly raise one side it flips the page, kinda like a real book. I told you, there are ways around it. I had this argument before on the iPod Touch Fans forums in a thread about the iPad's bezel size (which is still a big disappointment for someone with an iPod touch, btw).

Originally Posted by mcooke66

The division of memory on board has irked many folks but when put in perspective of a 10 dollar sd card to expand to 4 gigs, it is really a non issue.

Except they advertise it as 2 GB... Very misleading, IMO. You don't even get 1 GB! Unless, of course, you buy lots and lots of books from their store to fill that 750 MB. Which could take a while... And a substantial financial effort on your part (at $3-20 a pop, somewhere in the hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands if we consider the average $10 price tag x 100 books).

[DSpider]

PS: I'm looking at the Kobo Touch. Ugh... Dat home button!!! Why is everyone copying Apple?

[GreenMonkey]

The Bezel size makes it easy to hold. No bezel? WTF do you hold onto then? Your fingers would cover the screen.

And the reason I bought the Nook Touch was for the pageturn buttons - otherwise I would have went with the new Kobo. Pageturn buttons are a necessity in my world for one-handed reading, laying sideways on a couch reading, reading while kid is in one arm, etc.

I could never read on a device as small as an ipod. Maybe if you are a slow reader...it's not like you can fit nearly enough words on a device that small.

I have a 380 MB cook book in PDF format. The largest PDF I have ever come across was 699 MB. I think it was a National Geographic magazine with high quality photographs, which was probably meant to fit on a CD.

E-ink readers aren't really intended for reading pdfs - they suck at it, frankly. Epub or mobi files are measured in K most of the time, not MB.

Absolutely no buttons, no card slots, docking slots, none of the silliness.

No thank you. I like my SD card slots and buttons, thanks. Expandability is never a con.

At most it can have a tactile sensor that would wake it up, tho it could also be done by shaking the device, double taping the screen after it (automatically) goes to sleep, etc.

And how well does that work when you are carrying it around in your pocket? The current method works pretty much like a smartphone, which works great. This is not an improvement, but only a way to ensure the device is constantly being woken up (and battery life sucked down).

[DSpider]

Hold it sideways and most (paperback) books will fit just fine. The 4th generation (5th coming out in September) will fit all books because of the bigger res: 960×640 @ 326 DPI. Then of course there's ePub, which will let you set whatever font size you want and then you can hold it any way you like.

Pageturn buttons are a necessity in my world for one-handed reading, laying sideways on a couch reading, reading while kid is in one arm, etc.

What if you're a lefty? Would you really hold your kid with your non-dominant hand while you're doing something else?? Would you really hold your kid AT ALL while you're doing something else? Jesus... Can't you just stop reading for a few minutes? I bet you held your Nook Touch with your other hand while you typed this too, didn't you?

[r3saucier]

Lol @ anyone in this thread taking this guy seriously. He's one step away from being a [edit by moderation], move along.

[DSpider]

Meh, it was more like a rant really. But I do hope they'll release something that isn't a clone of some other tablet or device. Something without buttons.

Because they can, I just don't know why they won't.


Hmmm... I wonder if they did some marketing research and found that people are really really fond of home buttons. Because that would explain it. People are fond of home buttons so we give it a home button. Simple as that.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by r3saucier

Lol @ anyone in this thread taking this guy seriously. He's one step away from being a [edit by moderation], move along.

yeah I had to giggle a few times. The Nook STR is a clone of the iPod Touch? because it has a home button? This may come as a shock to a lot of apple fans but they didn't invent the "home" button, nor did they invent the computer or the mp3 player nor the smartphone and not even the tablet.

and it really does just make me roll my eyes when people rant about the partition of space allocated to the books bought by BN and the books sideloaded. Oh dear lord, for the love of Pete, if you are that hard up PM ME and I'll give you the $4 for a 2G Sdcard so you can have all the space you need for your sideloaded books. I just love the whole "sky is falling" Barnes and Noble is the booogey man and out to stick it to us. It HAS EXANDABLE MEMORY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jersysman]

I see that since I have come back from my self-imposed hiatus, there are still a vast amount of trolls on this forum.

[DSpider]

Alright, fine. I won't get a dedicated reading device until they decide to drop the effing home button. How's that sound?

I just want a clean minimalistic look. If you want hidden blades, secret compartments for stashing condoms, who am I to argue with you?

[boswd]

Originally Posted by jersysman

I see that since I have come back from my self-imposed hiatus, there are still a vast amount of trolls on this forum.

Amazon and Sony must really be threatned to have soo many trolls on the nook board. Remember when this subforum was so nice to come to . Talk about some tips, share thoughts, work out problems with each other.

Now it's one Kindle or Sony troll after another. Not that the OP is a kindle or a sony troll but just speaking on the nook sub forum in general.

[linux_author]

i thought some of the OP's ideas had merit, such as being waterproof and considerable internal storage...

but with a VAT of just south of 20 percent, i'd think *any* electronic device would be expensive!

[boswd]

Originally Posted by linux_author

i thought some of the OP's ideas had merit, such as being waterproof and considerable internal storage...

but with a VAT of just south of 20 percent, i'd think *any* electronic device would be expensive!

the new Windows Phone 7 with Mango update (so far only in Japan) is reportdly to be waterproof.