|
WoG posted:What does the kindle stomp on that the nook doesn't, as far as target is concerned? Amazon in general, not the Kindle specifically. It's a statement, Amazon directly competes with several large box stores like Target and I'm sure they are catching flak for essentially helping propagate a competitor.
|
#
?
May 2, 2012 21:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
Target has been asking manufacturers for Target only products. It might have only a slight difference, but it'll have a different UPC code to thwart looking up products on your phone. At least make it harder.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2012 21:14
|
|
|
Fiendish Dr. Wu posted:About to try in a bit. There's an app that comes with the android image that let's you remap the physical keys on the NST (left-upper, left-lower, right-upper, right-lower, N) to other keys that the android SDK thinks are hardware keys, such as volume-up and volume-down. If you map the NST keys to vol up / vol down then you can use them as page advance, page backwards in aldiko, as otherwise Aldiko has no idea wtf page next / page back is. It's merely a convenience but one that I love.
|
|
#
?
May 2, 2012 21:40
|
|
|
Thanks for the responses guys. And I really didn't mean "backlit" -- I guess frontlit or some sort of illumination so I can read in bed. I do end up reading in poorly lit conditions a lot -- I work normal hours, but I'm busy after work sometimes, and then spend the rest of the evening after dinner evening in a dimly lit room or in bed with the wife and dogs reading/watching TV. The wife works crazy early hours so I'll often be considerate and sit in bed so the dogs are calm because they think it's bedtime and then they're not running around fighting/wrestling/barking and making it impossible for her to get to sleep. But anyway, yeah, I think you guys have addressed most of my concerns. Calibre looks nice and it runs on everything (hooray!) so I don't have to be upset that I'm a *nix nerd and it's a Windows app or something like that.
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2012 20:14
|
|
|
Just got my Nook Simple Touch in, and so far it's pretty cool. Thinking of rooting it, but mainly wondering if anyone knows of a way to make sure series information is moved over when I load books up via calibre. For some crazy rear end reason they have 2 gigs on board, but 1.75 gigs is tied up for the operating system/bn.com content, so you only have 240 megs to play with on the reader for books you side load.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2012 01:15
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Just got my Nook Simple Touch in, and so far it's pretty cool. Well, I'm pretty sure you need a microSD to root it anyway, so you might as well use that to expand the memory while you're at it. Besides, at about 1~1.5mb per epub, that's still quite a few books.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2012 02:04
|
|
|
Space Fish posted:The backlit Nook Simple Touch will be out May 7 and has received glowing reviews. Bravo. 
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2012 04:41
|
|
|
Posted this in the general questions threat but figured I'd come at it from a different angle: Does anyone have the Kindle version of DeLillo's Cosmopolis. If so, does your copy also have two chapters entitled "The Confessions of Benno Levin" in a row?
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2012 04:44
|
|
|
feld posted:Thanks for the responses guys. And I really didn't mean "backlit" -- I guess frontlit or some sort of illumination so I can read in bed. I do end up reading in poorly lit conditions a lot -- I work normal hours, but I'm busy after work sometimes, and then spend the rest of the evening after dinner evening in a dimly lit room or in bed with the wife and dogs reading/watching TV. The wife works crazy early hours so I'll often be considerate and sit in bed so the dogs are calm because they think it's bedtime and then they're not running around fighting/wrestling/barking and making it impossible for her to get to sleep. Yeah a case with a light or, even better, a small spotlight like a desk lamp mounted in the room behind your shoulder would probably be ideal. Or one of those headlights if you already own one and don't mind looking goofy. There's no way you can light the screen without having something that sticks out shining the light onto it.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2012 23:25
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:There's no way you can light the screen without having something that sticks out shining the light onto it.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 03:35
|
|
|
wheatpuppy posted:...except the new Nook, which has a built-in light. Seriously it sounds like that's the one feld should go for; it ticks all the boxes. I've seen it. I didn't like the page turn buttons and also the light is an awful color. Plus the price is $140 but it doesn't have free 3G or a web browser, and the whole package is kind of bulky and quite fat - nearly a half inch thick (so it does have something that sticks out with a light in it). On a personal level, I also hate touch interfaces with a passion, and the one on the Nook is kind of weird since it's apparently based on infrared beams instead of a resistive or capacitive screen. I've never had trouble reading a book without an attached light, so I don't see the point in adding cost, weight, bulk, etc. for a feature that's pretty useless for all but unusual cases where people are reading at night in the dark. And even then, they'd still be better served with a $5 lamp that will give even, warm-toned light. Not to mention the fact that Barnes and Noble has a worse selection of e-books and is way more anal with their DRM. And honestly, between the two, I think Amazon is way more likely to survive the next few years than B&N are. Even with the new spin-off of the ebooks division, I'd still be worried, since plenty of Microsoft partners have suffered crippling defeats over the years. If those things don't bother you, and you really need a built-in light, then I guess go for it? But given his concerns about DRM and service dependence, I'd be worried since we don't know what whatever the new e-book division's new masters are going to do. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 05:31 on May 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 05:16
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:I've seen it. I didn't like the page turn buttons and also the light is an awful color. Plus the price is $140 but it doesn't have free 3G or a web browser, and the whole package is kind of bulky and quite fat - nearly a half inch thick (so it does have something that sticks out with a light in it). On a personal level, I also hate touch interfaces with a passion, and the one on the Nook is kind of weird since it's apparently based on infrared beams instead of a resistive or capacitive screen. I haven't seen the new Nook in person, but it's touted on the B&N website as the lightest version ever. Is it really uncomfortably bulky? According to online specs it's the exact same thickness as the Simple Touch without light. Granted it's nearly 4 millimeters thicker than the Kindle Touch, but... 4 millimeters.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 06:14
|
|
|
Nah it's certainly not uncomfortably bulky, but coming from the non-touch kindle keyboard, it feels bulkier in pretty much every dimension because the frame of the unit is wider in comparison to the screen area and it's definitely pretty thick and fat in the hand. Some people might prefer that, though, but I didn't like it. At least it felt pretty light, which was a good point. It's definitely not a terrible choice at all, but I hate bluish lights and I don't like touch interfaces or B&N's book licensing system, so I personally don't like it or what it represents. The price also seems a bit high considering you don't even get 3G, but it's not unreasonably so and it's only by my estimation of the features I won't use or actively dislike. It's definitely an individual thing, and the best thing to do is to go to a brick and mortar store to actually try it out. I bet they're out in stores by now, right? I only saw a review unit sent to a friend of mine.
OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 06:32 on May 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 06:27
|
|
|
I think they're going to be released in the next few days. They're supposed to have display models in-store already but my local B&N didn't have them for some reason. I still have a first-generation Nook, so I'm eyeing the $99 Simple Touch as a replacement just because it's tiny in comparison to my brick. I never use the web browser anyway so I won't miss it.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 06:31
|
|
|
wheatpuppy posted:I think they're going to be released in the next few days. They're supposed to have display models in-store already but my local B&N didn't have them for some reason. I still have a first-generation Nook, so I'm eyeing the $99 Simple Touch as a replacement just because it's tiny in comparison to my brick. I never use the web browser anyway so I won't miss it. Then you'll probably be just fine. It's a good unit, but just not for me. Don't know if the light is really worth $39, but again that depends on how much reading you do in the dark. Personally, I don't think blue light is good for your sleep or eyestrain and, while the glowlight is pretty decent for what it is, I still prefer just lighting the room or spot lighting with a task lamp or something since it's easier on the eyes compared to a glowing screen as the brightest light in a darkened room. I guess you should wear a giant poncho to the store so you can pull it over your head to try out the light in a dark area. Or just a burlap sack. If you've bought any of their books, it's definitely not worth the price of replacing whatever you've already got licensed on your unit to switch to another brand of e-reader since it's perfectly competitive with the Kindle and is at the top of the market design and performance wise. Oh, I forgot to mention how I feel like the screen is somewhat less contrasty than the one on the kindle, but I'm not sure if this is psychological or a real thing. I didn't have a regular simple touch to compare side by side, but my friend seems to think the screen's worse than the regular Nook's screen, too. This might be down to individual variation or preproduction hardware or software or something. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 06:45 on May 5, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 06:39
|
|
|
wheatpuppy posted:I think they're going to be released in the next few days. They're supposed to have display models in-store already but my local B&N didn't have them for some reason. I still have a first-generation Nook, so I'm eyeing the $99 Simple Touch as a replacement just because it's tiny in comparison to my brick. I never use the web browser anyway so I won't miss it. You can also get refurbed Nooks from B&N often from between $20 and $59. I got mine for $20 and think it's worth every penny.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 14:55
|
|
|
If a case with light doesn't fit what you want and you want to stay with Amazon, I would recommend holding off for a bit. A lighted Kindle, in the same manner of the Nook Glow, was rumored way before the latest Nook's release (if there is one thing I have to give B&N credit for is always beating Amazon to the punch with new technology)
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 19:04
|
|
|
Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Just got my Nook Simple Touch in, and so far it's pretty cool. Yeah Barnes & Noble had the lovely idea of only allowing you to use that 1.75 gigs for books purchased from them. The 240 meg is for poo poo you want to load on.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2012 23:14
|
|
|
Sporadic posted:If a case with light doesn't fit what you want and you want to stay with Amazon, I would recommend holding off for a bit. It's not new technology, though. It's LEDs inset into the frame. The Nook is usually behind on technology, since it took them an extra year to release a product that uses a e-ink pearl display with the old Nook Simple Touch vs. the Kindle 3. Auron posted:Yeah Barnes & Noble had the lovely idea of only allowing you to use that 1.75 gigs for books purchased from them. The 240 meg is for poo poo you want to load on. Seriously? Jesus, that's awful and coercive.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2012 03:56
|
|
|
I might be getting a Kindle Fire I don't need next month because somebody bought it for me. Should I root it? I already have a normal Kindle and probably wouldn't ever leave the house with the Fire (screen no good in daylight) so should I just make it an Android tablet? I live in China so Amazon Plus content doesn't work and there's plenty of Chinese Android apps that do the same thing for free. Can you load video files on it, or is the Kindle Fire pretty much specifically for paid content?
|
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2012 06:55
|
|
|
Auron posted:Yeah Barnes & Noble had the lovely idea of only allowing you to use that 1.75 gigs for books purchased from them. The 240 meg is for poo poo you want to load on. Yes but you can upgrade storage with a micro sd card.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2012 07:10
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:It's not new technology, though. It's LEDs inset into the frame. The Nook is usually behind on technology, since it took them an extra year to release a product that uses a e-ink pearl display with the old Nook Simple Touch vs. the Kindle 3. It's kind of new technology with the new layer which helps spread the light (or at least I think that's how it works, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure). Sony did it first (same with the touch) but it was all loving garbage. You have to give B&N their due for beating Amazon to the punch on this and the Nook tablet and the touch version of their reader.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2012 07:59
|
|
|
Sporadic posted:It's kind of new technology with the new layer which helps spread the light (or at least I think that's how it works, to be honest, I'm not 100% sure). Sony did it first (same with the touch) but it was all loving garbage. The Nook Tablet was a pretty bog-standard android tablet with basically no new functionality. Hardly "innovation" in any sense. The same goes for the touch, which was already done by other companies first. Considering that the original Nook Simple Touch had some weird issues with battery life and screen ghosting, I hardly think that squirting out your latest product that's similar to your competitors' products at a marginally faster rate is really much of an accomplishment at all. This isn't little league and they didn't invent poo poo. B&N has also done really annoying anti-consumer stuff like removing the web browser function and only letting you use 250 mb for your own books.
|
|
#
?
May 6, 2012 21:16
|
|
|
Never said they were innovative. Just that (lately) they always beat Amazon to the punch of releasing new technology. Amazon has a plan, rumors leak out about Amazon's plan, B&N rushes that idea to market, Amazon releases that product later on.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2012 17:05
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:The Nook Tablet was a pretty bog-standard android tablet with basically no new functionality. Hardly "innovation" in any sense. The same goes for the touch, which was already done by other companies first. Considering that the original Nook Simple Touch had some weird issues with battery life and screen ghosting, I hardly think that squirting out your latest product that's similar to your competitors' products at a marginally faster rate is really much of an accomplishment at all. This isn't little league and they didn't invent poo poo. B&N has also done really annoying anti-consumer stuff like removing the web browser function and only letting you use 250 mb for your own books. Yeah, but at least B&N can mass-market that thing at a decent price. Sure, others may have did it first, but they sold them in hidden corners of the internet for $200+. Despite being late to the game with the tech, they're the first "good" iteration of the tech in mass-market, reasonably priced form. I don't know if they're necessarily eating Amazon's lunch just yet, but that depends on how long Amazon takes to respond.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2012 17:30
|
|
|
How well does the Kindle Touch work for audio books? At least once a month I do some long distance driving and if I get a kindle I would like to use it for audio books instead of using my phone.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2012 18:45
|
|
|
SB35 posted:Yeah, but at least B&N can mass-market that thing at a decent price. Sure, others may have did it first, but they sold them in hidden corners of the internet for $200+. Despite being late to the game with the tech, they're the first "good" iteration of the tech in mass-market, reasonably priced form. I don't know if they're necessarily eating Amazon's lunch just yet, but that depends on how long Amazon takes to respond. What product are you talking about? I can't think of a single nook that meets that description.
|
|
#
?
May 8, 2012 06:51
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:What product are you talking about? I can't think of a single nook that meets that description. Nook Simple Touch - Released June 10, 2011 Available for 5 months before the Kindle Touch was released. Probably the first widely available (online & physical retail locations) touch screen eReader, and the first one with an MSRP at under $100. Nook Simple Touch Glow - Released May 7, 2012 First widely available (online right now, but can be assumed to follow the NST to retail locations) touch screen eReader with a built-in light at a reasonable MSRP of $139 (Sony's PRS-700 with glow function seems to have done it first in '09 but was $400). Amazon hasn't even released a lit, touch screen eReader so we can't make that comparison yet. So there you go. B&N's NST and NST w/Glow were both late to the game with the technology, but first to be widely available, mass-marketed and sold in online and physical stores, and reasonably priced. I have a Kindle, but gently caress, B&N at least deserves some credit for the Nook. SB35 fucked around with this message at 10:42 on May 8, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 8, 2012 10:39
|
|
|
Technically, the Kobo Touch (Borders/Indigo) was released at the same time (June 10). And is also a more direct competitor to B&N (both are brick & mortar book stores), and both have a tablet with the exact same specs. 7" screen 800MHz cpu 512Mb RAM 8Gb internal MicroSD card slot 1024 x 600 res Android based OS Released within two days of each other. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 21:32 on May 8, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 8, 2012 21:22
|
|
Mister Macys posted:Technically, the Kobo Touch (Borders/Indigo) was released at the same time (June 10). Haha, not anymore they aren't! I think the point was that Amazon always announced and developed the technology first, and their competitors rushed to market products with the same specs and shorter development times.
|
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 02:22
|
|
|
Be Depressive posted:Haha, not anymore they aren't! That's okay, Borders/Indigo will still have a home in Canada; the place for failed (and failing) American businesses. Blockbuster (now completely dead), Borders, Radio Shack, and Best Buy (ironically more expensive than Future Shop). God speed, little buddies.  And B&N has zero presence up here, too. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 04:07 on May 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 04:04
|
|
|
This is somewhat last minute but I am planning on getting my mom a e-reader so she doesn't have to lug around all those drat books. I am up here in Canada so ordering online won't be fast enough to get here by Friday. At the Chapters they have the Kobo which seems to be the big deal up here. But there is also the Sony readers ive seen in stores. Any other options for those of us north of the border?
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 17:51
|
|
|
Can someone tell me what the heck is wrong with the Barnes and Noble website? It is barely functional for me. I have 4 bucks in gift certificate money left and I want to buy some ebooks, but I get so frustrated I can't even do bear to browse there.
|
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 18:02
|
|
|
Vintersorg posted:This is somewhat last minute but I am planning on getting my mom a e-reader so she doesn't have to lug around all those drat books. I am up here in Canada so ordering online won't be fast enough to get here by Friday. At the Chapters they have the Kobo which seems to be the big deal up here. But there is also the Sony readers ive seen in stores. The Source™ is the exclusive seller of the Kindle Touch™ in Canada!  And you can get the cheap Kindle Wi-Fi at Staples, The Source, Wal Mart, and probably other places. Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 18:56 on May 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 18:52
|
|
|
SB35 posted:Nook Simple Touch - Released June 10, 2011 Touch screens aren't exactly new technology. They certainly weren't the first touch e-reader. They weren't the first reasonably priced e-reader, considering the Kindle was selling for $114 by May 3 of 2011. And the difference between an e-reader with a light-up screen and an e-reader with an optional light is basically zero. When dealing with mostly mature technology like this, it all comes down to what engineering compromises in regards to cost, packaging, interface quality, screen quality, etc., you're willing to tolerate in the design, not technical innovation. And of those, Barnes and Noble is making design choices and compromises that the Amazon design team has not. This isn't about Kindle fanboyism. This is about not congratulating companies when they aren't taking risks or doing something otherwise good for consumers or the market at cost to themselves. Additionally, Barnes and Nobles' approach is to rush products to market while sticking on useless extraneous features like that color touchscreen on the first nook, touch interfaces, and now this stupid light-up screen. I'm also somewhat worried these mostly useless marketing bullet-points will spread to infect the still very small e-reader market and lead to feature bloat and bad designs. Amazon's made plenty of bad design choices, too, of course. The mobipocket format is pretty limited, and their implementation of it is often buggy and weird. And their decision to not have hard page turn buttons on the Kindle Touch is unforgivable. But at least they're not taking out features for no reason other than to coerce the customer. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 21:58 on May 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
May 9, 2012 21:54
|
|
|
Cream_Filling posted:Touch screens aren't exactly new technology. They certainly weren't the first touch e-reader. They weren't the first reasonably priced e-reader, considering the Kindle was selling for $114 by May 3 of 2011. And the difference between an e-reader with a light-up screen and an e-reader with an optional light is basically zero. When dealing with mostly mature technology like this, it all comes down to what engineering compromises in regards to cost, packaging, interface quality, screen quality, etc., you're willing to tolerate in the design, not technical innovation. And of those, Barnes and Noble is making design choices and compromises that the Amazon design team has not. I dunno man. From everything I read people *love* the Nook. It's only the syncing issues they hate. But as reasonable people we should want all these readers to be successful so we get actual improvements through competition.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2012 04:14
|
|
|
I asked this in the IYG e-reader thread, but I think different people frequent this one (why are there two e-reader threads in wildly different subforums, anyway?) How's the selection on the Amazon Lending Library?
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2012 14:39
|
|
|
Amazon is adding all the Harry Potter books to their Kindle Owner's Lending Library starting June 19th. If you own Amazon Prime, you can "borrow" one book a month from a selection of over 145,000. Its unknown if you have to register with that Pottermore website that JK Rowling has set up in order to do this. Normally you have to purchase the ebooks from Pottermore and then they link it to your kindle account.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2012 14:47
|
|
|
Boxman posted:I asked this in the IYG e-reader thread, but I think different people frequent this one (why are there two e-reader threads in wildly different subforums, anyway?) Not great. You can browse a bit by going to the kindle store, searching for 'prime eligible', then clicking the 'Kindle eBooks' dept link in the left column (which will open up genre categories).
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2012 16:58
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 9, 2024 08:58 |
|
|
Boxman posted:I asked this in the IYG e-reader thread, but I think different people frequent this one (why are there two e-reader threads in wildly different subforums, anyway?) Most of the major publishers haven't signed on so the selection is rather lacking. There's still some decent stuff out there but I would not get Amazon Prime for the lending library alone. I'd consider it just a bonus to everything else Prime gives.
|
|
#
?
May 10, 2012 17:02
|
|
