

Not Yet The Season For a Nook - tedunangst
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/technology/personaltech/10pogue.html?_r=1&8dpc

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pavs
I might be wrong, but doesn't NY-Times has exclusive subscription deals with
Kindle? If so, its better to take this review with a grain of salt.

I don't own any e-reader or plan to buy one anytime soon, My mac book does a
good job. Generally speaking ebook market has a lot of room for innovation,
with the possibility of big players like apple entering the tablet market
soon, it will drive innovations among competitors and consumers will benefit
from superior products in a year or so.

Unlike computers, e-readers can tie you down with their proprietary book
formats saved in your "library collection". So its a good idea to think long
term when you invest on your book reader, not so much because of the cost of
the book reader but the value of your book collection that you might not be
able to transfer from one reader to another if you change your mind.

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silencio
> I don't own any e-reader or plan to buy one anytime soon, My mac book does a
> good job...

That is basically what I thought (if you replace macbook with iPhone) for the
past few years, up until I got a Kindle last week and then fell in love with
it. While there is a lot of room for innovation still, I don't see Apple
releasing an e-ink based device for a long, long, long time if ever. Apple
could release a tablet in the next year, but presumably it will have a display
like the iPhone's, and battery life to match. It'll probably be general
purpose: good for almost everything, useful for people that need a color
display, but it won't really match a Kindle or Nook specifically for reading
text and not having to charge for a week at a time.

But of course, Amazon has an iPhone app already. They're working on desktop
apps now. Presumably an Apple tablet will run 3rd party apps, in which case
there will also be a Kindle app for the Apple tablet. Amazon sells books
regardless in this situation, which is a win-win. The same goes to Barnes &
Noble too. So will the next generation Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, or Apple
tablet truly drive _hardware_ innovation between all the competitors? Not so
sure...(although I personally would like to see the keyboard on the Kindle
replaced with a touchscreen).

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nazgulnarsil
e-ink devices will continue to move slowly until there is competition in
providing the screens.

~~~
kloncks
I really agree with that. We keep forgetting that all of these devices
essentially depend on the same company for their screens, which are arguably
the most important components of the devices anyways.

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jeremyw
Well put: _Every one of the Nook’s vaunted distinctions comes fraught with
buzz kill footnotes._

