To be fair, since i tend to favor the Kindle in my EReader updates, I figured I'd take a second to mention some of the other ereaders which have recently come to my attention.
The first is the Sony device. I got an email from Borders, which puts the older Sony Reader Pocket Edition at $199.99. Wow. That's pretty significant in my estimation, as I think that $200 is a major price point. The next major price point in my opinion will be when the first reader drops to $99.99. I'd say at that price mark, eReaders shift from gizmo, to practical device. Mind you, quality and function also need to continue to improve, but I think that's inevittable with the number of new entries into the marketplace. Also of note is that the Sony Reader Touch edition is now at $299.99. Although I hear mixed reviews about this device, (mostly claiming that the touch screen technology interferes with the screen resolution quality) I have to admit, touch screen technology is sweet. For me more of a nice to have than need to have though, because touch screen done poorly is, in my opinion, worse than not having it.
Now engadget has an article talking about Barnes & Noble's entry into the marketplace. The Nook. I can't yet find anything about it on the B&N website, so I find that fact a tiny bit frustrating. However, the launch price is supposed to be head to head with the Kindle, set at $259. This looks like it might just be the ereader for my friend Blue. It claims that you can use their built in LendMe technology to loan out books to friends. Either on their Nook, or on their cellphone/iTouch, laptop etc, if they've got the B&N App for their device, you can loan to them. That's cool. It also seems to have Wifi and ATT 3G backing it up, something that I think makes these devices awesome. It has a color touchscreen interface (separate from the reading screen) and that is the user interface. Neat, though I'd have to see it in action in person before I know whether I think it's really good. And unlike the Kindle, B&N will have their device available in stores to check out. Which means, you'll be able to try before you buy. That's a huge benefit. There's even a claim, that you can read the ebooks while in the store, so you can browse the ebooks, even if they don't have the book instock, while hanging out at B&N. Just as if you had the real book infront of you. Interesting. Could this be the one to knock Kindle off it's current leader seat? Not sure. It definitely has my curiosity. I will probably check it out.
Now, if these folks figure out how to incorporate social networking into this experience, I think things will really take off. Consider what![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sartoriassaid in a response to an earlier post of mine, she doesn't trust the automated algorythms that Amazon uses to generate recommendations for fiction. But what if, while you scrolled through the bookstore, you could see that ten of your friends rated a book 5 *s. Not just that the average rating was 4.5*s, but your specific friends. Or you could recommend books to friends and family through this sort of networking app. Now sure, you'll probably see a lot of chaff out there, just like you see tons of blips of noise on Facebook or Myspace, but if they tailor it right, you should be able to organize yourself to get a better signal to noise ratio. And then it would be readers, connecting with readers through their ereaders. Okay, I'm probably getting all fanciful in the vision, but I could see it working.
What do you think about Social Media for books? Do you belong to any? Do they help you find interesting books?
Update: B&N has the official webpage up as of the moment. You can find more about the Nook here.
The first is the Sony device. I got an email from Borders, which puts the older Sony Reader Pocket Edition at $199.99. Wow. That's pretty significant in my estimation, as I think that $200 is a major price point. The next major price point in my opinion will be when the first reader drops to $99.99. I'd say at that price mark, eReaders shift from gizmo, to practical device. Mind you, quality and function also need to continue to improve, but I think that's inevittable with the number of new entries into the marketplace. Also of note is that the Sony Reader Touch edition is now at $299.99. Although I hear mixed reviews about this device, (mostly claiming that the touch screen technology interferes with the screen resolution quality) I have to admit, touch screen technology is sweet. For me more of a nice to have than need to have though, because touch screen done poorly is, in my opinion, worse than not having it.
Now engadget has an article talking about Barnes & Noble's entry into the marketplace. The Nook. I can't yet find anything about it on the B&N website, so I find that fact a tiny bit frustrating. However, the launch price is supposed to be head to head with the Kindle, set at $259. This looks like it might just be the ereader for my friend Blue. It claims that you can use their built in LendMe technology to loan out books to friends. Either on their Nook, or on their cellphone/iTouch, laptop etc, if they've got the B&N App for their device, you can loan to them. That's cool. It also seems to have Wifi and ATT 3G backing it up, something that I think makes these devices awesome. It has a color touchscreen interface (separate from the reading screen) and that is the user interface. Neat, though I'd have to see it in action in person before I know whether I think it's really good. And unlike the Kindle, B&N will have their device available in stores to check out. Which means, you'll be able to try before you buy. That's a huge benefit. There's even a claim, that you can read the ebooks while in the store, so you can browse the ebooks, even if they don't have the book instock, while hanging out at B&N. Just as if you had the real book infront of you. Interesting. Could this be the one to knock Kindle off it's current leader seat? Not sure. It definitely has my curiosity. I will probably check it out.
Now, if these folks figure out how to incorporate social networking into this experience, I think things will really take off. Consider what
sartoriassaid in a response to an earlier post of mine, she doesn't trust the automated algorythms that Amazon uses to generate recommendations for fiction. But what if, while you scrolled through the bookstore, you could see that ten of your friends rated a book 5 *s. Not just that the average rating was 4.5*s, but your specific friends. Or you could recommend books to friends and family through this sort of networking app. Now sure, you'll probably see a lot of chaff out there, just like you see tons of blips of noise on Facebook or Myspace, but if they tailor it right, you should be able to organize yourself to get a better signal to noise ratio. And then it would be readers, connecting with readers through their ereaders. Okay, I'm probably getting all fanciful in the vision, but I could see it working.What do you think about Social Media for books? Do you belong to any? Do they help you find interesting books?
Update: B&N has the official webpage up as of the moment. You can find more about the Nook here.
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However, I've had a lot of good reccos from LiveJournal.
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Well, I'm not sure that the wifi is only available in store. I think it can use wifi elsewhere. What I get out of their description is that wifi in the store will have extra features. Which is brilliant when you think about it, since that's something Amazon can't match. It's a way to get Nook customers to still come and visit the store, hang out, read, etc, because they might buy ancillary stuff (coffee from the cafe, or knick knacks which apparently are much higher profit margin for the stores) or physical books they want copies of.
I agree, I'd love to see the Kindle support the more natively EPub, and PDF for the smaller devices would be nice. I mean, if they can do it with the DX, that shows they CAN do it. Why not let us have it too? (Okay, maybe not us first edition holders, but certainly all the K2s out there should be able to have the software as an upgrade to the device.)
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