Kindle or Nook?

[mrpackerguy]

Ipad is not an option.

I'm leaning toward a Nook for my wife for our anniv. My sis-in-law has one and they can share books apparently. Plus, my wife absoultely loves barnes and noble. If something goes wrong with it, she can take it right into the store for servicing.

[blendermassacre]

I was jokingly going to say IPAD!!!

[DigMe]

Regardless of any techical and aesthetic comparisons it sounds like from the things you say that your sister is probably going to be most happy with the Nook. The Nook is t eInk is it? I think there is a lot to be said for eInk in a pure reading device (my wife has a Kindle), especially when reading right before bedtime. Also, the built-in cellular book downloading access is very convenient and the Amazon ebook store is great. The book lending feature of the Nook is very cool and that's something that has been very lacking in the ebook scene.

bc

[DudeistMonk]

Well if you want to do Text to Speech then you need a Kindle...this is primarily how I read now a days so Nook won't cut it for me.

[Pacman]

Love my Kindle!

[mrpackerguy]

Went Nook. Prices dropped dramatically. Got the wi-fi, but non-ATT version for $149. Wife loves it. Great anniv gift.

[L-A]

Originally Posted by mrpackerguy

Went Nook. Prices dropped dramatically. Got the wi-fi, but non-ATT version for $149. Wife loves it. Great anniv gift.

Glad to hear about it! I wanted to go Kindle for a long time, and the Nook is the one that shaked my conviction.

However, it doesn't seem to be available for Québec yet

[Atoz]

I own a nook, and I'm happy with it.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I love good ol' paper books, even the modern eInk screens mess with my eyes

[IPA]

Neither. lol@ "take it to the store for servicing"... you think they will do anything in the store? Like they have a table in the back with a bunch of tiny screwdrivers or something? They'll send it to the same sweatshop that you would from home.

There are lots of other (better) options besides the big 3--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...e-book_readers

Bookeen Cybook is a good place to start

[Febs]

Originally Posted by IPA

There are lots of other (better) options besides the big 3--
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...e-book_readers

Bookeen Cybook is a good place to start

What makes that a better option than the Kindle? It looks like it's more expensive and appears to have fewer features.

[L-A]

Originally Posted by IPA

ookeen Cybook is a good place to start

Considering it's a 3" x 4" screen, they are priced for the year previous gens came out. And those "accessories" are re-branded generic hardware.

How is that better?

They don't get sent to a strawman sweatshop? "Servicing" just happens to cover software support.

[Bongolation]

I doubt anyone on TalkBass reads fractionally as much as I do.

I absolutely can't see a purpose for Kindle, try as I might.

I totally don't get it.

Someone explain to me why a reader would want one of these things. It seems like absolutely nothing but a marketing gimmick for publishers.

I live two blocks from a privately-endowed public library with free access to over fifty other library systems. Why do I need to buy digital books for a Kindle?

If I lose or destroy a library book, it's going to be way cheaper than losing or destroying a Kindle.

Etc., etc.

What's the point?

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

I doubt anyone on TalkBass reads fractionally as much as I do.

I absolutely can't see a purpose for Kindle, try as I might.

I totally don't get it.

Someone explain to me why a reader would want one of these things. It seems like absolutely nothing but a marketing gimmick for publishers.

I live two blocks from a privately-endowed public library with free access to over fifty other library systems. Why do I need to buy digital books for a Kindle?

If I lose or destroy a library book, it's going to be way cheaper than losing or destroying a Kindle.

Etc., etc.

What's the point?

Or just check out charity shops. I'll spend £10 or so every fortnight stocking up on more books, generally 50p-£1 each. I'm assuming that's also cheaper than buying eBooks for these readers?

(tho granted, I know that there are quite a few freebie ones you can download)

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

I doubt anyone on TalkBass reads fractionally as much as I do.

I absolutely can't see a purpose for Kindle, try as I might.

I totally don't get it.

Someone explain to me why a reader would want one of these things. It seems like absolutely nothing but a marketing gimmick for publishers.

I live two blocks from a privately-endowed public library with free access to over fifty other library systems. Why do I need to buy digital books for a Kindle?

If I lose or destroy a library book, it's going to be way cheaper than losing or destroying a Kindle.

Etc., etc.

What's the point?

I read when I travel. For me, since traveling always includes a road case with a bass in it, a laptop, clothes, DSLR, etc, books add considerable amount of weight. My kindle has on it right now 30 books. It weighs almost nothing, and I can get another one in 60 seconds.

I'm not trying to convince you that it's right for YOU, but I love mine - it's definitely the right product for ME.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by i_got_a_mohawk

Or just check out charity shops. I'll spend £10 or so every fortnight stocking up on more books, generally 50p-£1 each. I'm assuming that's also cheaper than buying eBooks for these readers?

You live in a more or less literate country with publishers who respect the language. I don't.

In the US, the only stuff at "thrift stores" is crap -- The worst pop genre fiction, four-year-old best-sellers, brainless self-help and diet books. Stuff that needs pulping in the very worst way.

Anything that doesn't fall into those categories is cherrypicked out by used book stores before the remnants go out on the shelf.

Besides, I got over keeping my own library after having moved it a couple of times in San Francisco.

Now, having over fifty entire library systems accessible to me, 100% free (well, I do pay taxes!), I've kept my own stuff to a minimum.

(tho granted, I know that there are quite a few freebie ones you can download)

I'm extremely angry about the industry-fueled regressive copyright reform that took about thirty+ years of publishing out of US public domain.

How I despise the American music and publishing businesses, run mainly by the same type of pernicious vermin.

But, that said, the many competing formats in which the main public domain libraries exist do not seem to process well with the eReaders, which is one of the disappointments I have with them, their primary point for me being their (in)ability to make large online public domain stuff more readable than on computer screen -- though I think that visual ergonomics of on-screen reading could be much improved if someone actually tried.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by Pacman

I read when I travel. For me, since traveling always includes a road case with a bass in it, a laptop, clothes, DSLR, etc, books add considerable amount of weight. My kindle has on it right now 30 books.

Most of which you had to pay for, I assume.

Sure, schlepping thirty books around is a weighty proposition, but even weightier is their cost.

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Most of which you had to pay for, I assume.

Sure, schlepping thirty books around is a weighty proposition, but even weightier is their cost.

That's not an issue for me.

If you're happy with the library, great. You said you couldn't see why someone would want one of these things, I told you. I didn't buy one for myself, I confess - my mother, who reads more than any person I've ever met got me one as a gift. I never would have considered buying one for myself, but I sure love it.

[mrpackerguy]

Originally Posted by Bongolation

Most of which you had to pay for, I assume.

Sure, schlepping thirty books around is a weighty proposition, but even weightier is their cost.

Actually, the ebooks at B&N are about 1/3 - 1/2 the cost of real books. Pays for itself pretty quickly. But to some extent, yes, just another gadget. You could also say kills less tress if you're in that camp.

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by mrpackerguy

Actually, the ebooks at B&N are about 1/3 - 1/2 the cost of real books. Pays for itself pretty quickly.

That's staggering that you pay that much for them. Seems an awful lot to me, especially when you can buy the book used for a couple of bucks from Amazon after it's been out for a couple of months in most cases.

But to some extent, yes, just another gadget. You could also say kills less tress if you're in that camp.

Not enough to pay for it. But the libraries use the paper pretty efficiently, lots of readers, then pulped.

I dunno, I just don't see the cost-benefit ratio working out for the vast majority of readers, especially if they have half-decent library access.

The hardware cost of these things seems extremely excessive to me for what they are, the battery replacement costs are probably pretty high, the for-purchase e-books have excessively high prices (and I'm not sure how universally-available all in-print titles are), I'm guessing that they are pretty fragile and I'm still not 100% sold on the visual ergonomics, though I'm sure they've improved some since last time I messed with one of them.

If I traveled a lot and could palm all this off on some expense account in some way, I could probably be persuaded to mess with one, but it really seems much more like an extremely pricey geek-toy than a viable replacement for the library book for really heavy readers.