Nook vs. Kindle
Posted by Tina Dee Books | Labels: eBooks, eReaders, Nook vs. Kindle | Posted On at 8:37 AM
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Nook or Kindle? Before you even dash for your cup of coffee, I have a question for you, but maybe you should get your cuppa and we'll chat this out. Well, okay, that was the question. Nook or Kindle?In my inbox yesterday (maybe it was in the wee hours this morning--haven't had my first sips of morning brew yet, so my brain is still a little hazy) I received Barnes & Nobles email advertisement on their new eReader, the Nook.
Have you heard of it before? Me neither.
But, if you go to the Barnes & Noble site and look at B&N's comparison page on the Nook vs. Kindle you will see that they surpass Kindle in features. Apparently, you can loan out your purchased book to family and friends and your bookclub, thanks to the Nook's LendMe(TM) technology. I'm all for lending books, do it all the time with my good old fashioned paper books. But I can only lend out as many copies of that book as I have purchased, or been gifted because someone else purchased. Is it the same with the Nook?
As a writer, I want millions of people reading my books. On this blog, I give away a chapter of my e-book (notice difference in spelling, my e-book is only available by the humble means of this blog or my other blog Bustles And Spurs), LOVE'S GAMBLE, every couple of weeks in hopes that readers will love it and tell their friends about it, thus bringing me more readers. You can check the sidebar for the chapters. My readers get a free book, I get more readers. It's a cycle of love.
So, what's my concern? I have to be honest. I haven't yet read all the information, but since B&N brought it up, I'm going to ask until I can find the answer. How many people can I loan my eBook to at a time? That number should be directly related to how many copies of that title I've purchased. So, let's say I purchase one copy of Susan Meissner's recent release, WHITE PICKET FENCES, one copy of Linore Rose Burkard's THE HOUSE IN GROSVENOR SQUARE, and also a copy of Kathleen Y'Barbo's THE CONFIDENTIAL LIFE OF EUGENIA COOPER (all excellent reads, by the way).
Now, as I said, I've purchased one copy of each book through my eReader (just dreaming about the possibility of owning one), so I should be able to lend one copy of each book out. But, B&N said I could share with my bookclub. If I have six people in my bookclub and we're reading THE CONFIDENTIAL LIFE OF EUGENIA COOPER, then I can only lend to one person in the club, right?
As a writer, I want to know. Writing is a labor-intensive work of passion that consumes a large part of one's calendar, one's heart, yes--one's life. Authors, agents, and traditional publishers make money only on each book that has been purchased. I write a book, you buy it and download it to your Nook or Kindle, and then my agent, my publisher, and I get paid. You buy two copies of that book, we get paid two times. But if you lend that book out, and have the ability to do so many times at once when you've only made a single purchase of the book, then someone's not getting paid for all the eyes eating up the words author labored so hard over. See what I mean? I need to dig deeper and find out more.
The publishing world is changing so fast. Morning to afternoon the publishing world may have a different landscape.
The other thing about the Nook I wanted to mention (and there are quite a few things that I can mention) is that I have to applaud a great marketing device B&N is employing. You've heard that brick & mortar stores (the ones you actually walk into and pluck a paper-made book from the shelf then pay at a register) have been seeing less and less foot traffic. More people are purchasing through online stores.
In order to bring more folks into the stores:
1) Barnes & Noble will have the Nook in their stores for purchase. Now I've never held a Kindle, or any other eReader. Gosh, I don't even know anyone (with the exception of writer friends, agents, and editors) that own one. In my world, the average Joe doesn't own one, can't afford one, and has never touched one.Now, if I've read their advertisement correctly, I sashay into my local Barnes & Noble brick & mortar-style store, and let my fingers caress the cold metal (or plastic) as I hold their new eReader in my hands (they can be pre-ordered now, but in your cute little paws no earlier than Nov. 30th--they, of course, want to give it enough time for word-of-mouth to become a frenzied froth). That's one way to get us into their stores at the height of the Christmas shopping season, isn't it?
2) 'Exclusive content' available to you when you're in your local B&N store with your Nook. Hmm...makes me want to trek a path there, with Nook in hand, just to see what that new 'content' is. Yet another way to get us in their doors--you are so clever B&N.
3) First Android(TM) based eReader. Okay, I don't know what that means, but you know that it will have men searching, like crazy, the pages of B&N online. Because, what man wouldn't want to have some sort of gadget that's Android(TM), even if it's only a gadgety thing inside their eReader. Oh, and speaking of gadgety, with the Nook, you have the ability to read eBooks on multiple devices vs. Kindle's iPhone & iPod Touch (only).
4) The Nook has a separate color touch screen at the bottom where you can scroll book covers across that lower screen. The upper, larger screen is the black-and-white area where you view your book pages/do your reading. I don't know what the Kindle does, it's never held my attention long enough to browse through all the pages of their advertisement. Why? I couldn't afford one! And it wasn't practical for me to go through the sofa cushions in search of $400-500 of change to buy one. Not even when they dropped the price to $399. Not even at $299. (Good move Kindle, get folks to buy before the announcement of the Nook, which is what? $50 cheaper and offers more, better, features. Sorry, $299 was still out of reach for me.)
But, at $250, with all the sleek, svelte, and cat-like qualities of the new Nook, and the fact that I can hold it in my hot little hands come November 30th and lust for it as I touch it, that, I think, will awaken in my the urge to toss off delayed gratification. Yes, I can see it now, tuck it in the fold of my arm, plow my way through the endless crowd, and make my goal to the register. TOUCHDOWN! Until the Visa bill arrives, I'll be on one bliss-filled high with my new Nook.
What's next? Who's left to invent the next eReader and up the ante? Borders? No. Wal-Mart? They're selling books now, they want to undercut the competition in everything else. Why not them? I don't know...
In my dreams. $250, at this point, is still too high for this average American one-income family.
I love reading. And an eReader would be fun, even practical in some respects (more space in my house, less books). But is that necessarily a good thing? I don't know. I love books.
Do you remember back in the day, when the first cel phones came out? A guy had one at my high school. He carried it in the briefcase it needed to be stored in for travel to make it mobile, as I understand it anyway. The phone itself was bigger than a brick. Probably just as heavy. And, he came from the rich side of town. You're average American family didn't own a cel phone (or were they actually called mobile phones back then?) and didn't look like they'd ever be able to. Now look around. Everyone owns a cel phone. There are even disposable cel phones.
eReaders, how soon until we all own one? I've shared my concerns. I've also shared my thoughts on what I think is great about eReaders, especially the Nook.
Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I been offered compensation for promotion of an eReader device. (However, I will consider the matter should such an offer be made. I'm kidding. Mostly. No, I'm kidding. Mostly...)
Do you have an eReader?
What do you like or dislike about it?
What do you think about the Nook?
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Ok I am a guy and I am hooked! It is totally a new toy and I want one! Christmas is coming, do you hear that honey?
LOL. All I can say, Anonymous, is better start searching under the sofa cushions. Costing less than the Kindle is one thing, but it'll still take more than a few pretty pennies to get that Nook in your stocking by Christmas!
I've decided to take Kindle of my wish list in favor of the new Nook. One big difference for me is that you can read PDFs on the Nook without having to convert them first like you do with Kindle. I seem to accumulate quite a few PDFs, some of which are books I plan to write reviews on. That and the $259 price is making an eReader much more tempting. Now, which do I put first on my wish list? An iPhone or a Nook? :)
Ooo, good question, Dona. I think I'd cast my vote for the Nook.
Thanks for mentioning the PDF thing on the Nook. Yes, that does make it all the more appealing.
I don't know what the Kindle did for browsing books when you want to purchase, but I have to say that I love that lower screen on the Nook--maybe some don't judge books by their covers, but the cover should does have 'shelf' appeal. It's the first thing you see besides the title and the author (and MAYBE the publishing house).
I don't have a Nook or Kindle. They sounded good at first, but then I realized I couldn't write on a passage in the book that intrigued me, underline anything for future reference, etc. I prefer good, old fashioned, hands-on paper books!
Carmen, me too! And I do the same things, highlight, make notes, underline.
Maybe in a few years that'll change, but I do love the feel of trade paperback books in my hands. I love how they carry relatively easily where ever I go.
I just can see being as affectionate with an eReader. I know, I know...in about 5 years, I may sing a different tune. But I'd hate for the thrill of walking into the library or a bookstore to go away because I get all my reading on an eReader. I love, love, love, walking into a library, a bookstore. And, I love holding a book with a book cover, especially children's books. I'd miss that. And my children wouldn't know that experience, that wonderful glorious experience with an eReader tucked into their back pocket.
I like the sound of turning pages, but maybe they'll even add that 'sound' to eReaders for those of us digging our heals in on moving on to...progress?
Hi Tina,
Great post on the Nook!
I'm hearing all the buzz,
but I'm like you. Show me
the money! to pay for it.
Right now it is a want. I
want to have one just to
figure out how it works.
Give me some time and I will
turn this little want into
a real live NEED. I'm good
at that.
And I hope Anonymous gets his
Christmas wish.
Blessings,
A J
For a good read on the Nook and Kindle 2, check out Aggie's blog (there's a lot of other neat things to see there, too, so browse around!)
Aggie's url: http://www.VisualArtsJunction.com/
As much as I enjoy the ease of reading something online, I don't think I could ever truly become "friends" with a lit screen the way I can with a book. It has a smell, a crispness, a texture, and a heft, that no eReader could ever duplicate.
Between that and the money issue, I don't see myself ever purchasing one until books become obsolete (please, no!).
Signed, The Luddite. ;)
AMEN, Luddite! LOL! I was just thinking on the drive home from our school fieldtrip, how I wished we could stop off at the bookstore, how I wish I could pluck a tradeback from the shelf and plop down into a comfy cozy over-sized chair, sip a iced vanilla latte and devour every word off the paper pages of chosen novel.
Now, I'm off the computer to go snuggle Lil Tiger and pick up Robin Lee Hatcher's A Vote of Confidence. It's getting REALLY good and I hear the sequel is absolutely A MUST READ!
I had the Kindle on my Christmas wish-list, but I think I'll have to switch to the Nook. I need to read a good comparison chart really closely first, to be certain, but that pdf feature is a BIG plus. I have a ton of pdfs on my laptop, waiting (like some people at a stop sign; they don't move for a long, long time waiting for "that special moment," as my husband says). My "special moment" for reading the store of books on my pc will come a lot quicker with a nifty little reader, I'm sure.
Another good post. And of course I love the choice of books you chose for your theoretical nook. : )
Thanks much, Tina,
Hugs to ya.
Do compare the Nook to both Kindle and Kindle 2. I'm not sure how they are different, but best to have a complete comparison list. And visit Aggie's site above, she gave more information on the Kindle 2. I believe that the comparison page I looked and and linked to on B&N only compared their product to the Kindle (not the Kindle 2).
Let me know if you get one, either one, and how you like it!
If I were to get any kind of eReader, I don't think I'd be able to pry it from dear hubby's hands. He loves gadgets and technology. What guy doesn't? LOL.