Barnes & Noble is now unveiling their own electronic reader, the Nook, according to the New York Times.
The device features color touch-screen controls and a gray-and-white reading display. It will cost $259…According to an advertisement in the New York Times, “the Nook will permit readers to lend their digital books to friends and download books wirelessly.”
The Nook will join other e-Readers, like the Kindle, one from Sony, the IRex and Plastic Logic, then, of course, there’s also the app so books can be read on the iPhone.
The advertisement for the Nook says that consumers will be able to “access over one million e-books, newspapers and magazines.” About 500,000 of the books available at BN.com can be downloaded free, through an agreement with Google to provide electronic versions of public domain books that Google has scanned from university libraries.And, lastly, I found this piece of information in the New York Times article interesting:
According to the Codex Group, a consultant to the publishing industry, the number of people who own e-readers is expected to roughly double to about 3.8 million by the end of this year, from about 1.6 million in August.
I'm still going to stick to the old fashioned book. Maybe by the time I am willing to surrender and buy an eReader, they will have developed a compatible one.
ReplyDeleteYes, this incompatibility thing is very upsetting. It's a crazy thing. That's why I cannot love my Mac too much either. I miss my PC and all those options it offered. But if they really want people to buy the devices in such amounts, I think they should make them compatible.
ReplyDeleteMe thinks I like the book idea too :)
ReplyDeleteI guess it's all about the money and copyrights. It certainly isn't about the convenience of the readers!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
I'm staying with the "books" for now too. I agree about the compatibility, and the price too. Lots of interesting publishing developments lately, though, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI just read that publishers can turn off the lending feature, so that might not be as big a deal as people think it will be.
ReplyDeleteIt's a little like the old railway systems that had a bunch of trains running on different track gauges. Standardising helped everyone, customers and owners alike.
ReplyDeleteKinda surprised there are already over a million people with ebook readers.
I saw an announcement on the Nook last week - what will they think of next?
ReplyDeleteI'm sticking to ppb and laptop until they figure out who is VHS and who is betamax.
ReplyDeleteI like the comment about VHS and Betamax - I agree. I own a Kindle and love it, but I think the real difference will come when (probably Korea) announces that there is an ereader for under $100.
ReplyDeleteI think Barnes and Noble is missing the boat. Instead of focusing on the gadget, they should focus on the content. They should give the e-readers away so people will buy the content. That's the model Gillette used with razors and it worked. The ereader gets the consumer hooked into B&N and then they have to go to B&N store to buy books. As writers, we want consumers to buy content.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I suspect the trend in devices will be mult-use gadgets such as the iphone. Why buy an ereader if you already have an iphone?
More people are accepting e-readers and buying into them (literally). Change will come. In most cases, change is inevitable. It matters little what the older generation thinks. There's now a generation who know only computers. The next generation may very well do its reading, TV/Movie watching, news gathering, game playing, exercising, letter writing, communicating, shopping, voting, research, working, and living online, on computer, via Internet, with handheld or headset or eventually implants.
ReplyDeleteI think the popularity of e-readers is mainly for the traveler who can take a hundred or more books along on a trip. But standarizing the readers should be done soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm still ambivalent about e-readers, especially the price. But I think the competition is a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm also kind of waiting to see what Apple comes up with... :)
I understand the convenience of e-readers; but the price! For now, I'm sticking with the old-fashioned paper book. But I'm old and cranky.
ReplyDeleteElspeth
LOL, Elsbeth. I am a bit old and cranky, too, but I've been reading e-books for some time now and enjoy the portability of my reader and the fact that I can read in bed with the light out, as well as carry a lot of books in one device. What I don't like is the fact that there is no standard platform for all readers. I can't buy a Kindle book for my E-Bookwise.
ReplyDeleteI think Mark has a great idea. Give the readers away and readers will buy the books. I know I would. But I am not going to buy one of each of the different readers out there.
Goodness, that'll be a lot of e-readers sold by the end of the year! I guess they're anticipating a big holiday boost?
ReplyDeleteChristina, maybe eReaders will be the new Cabbage Patch doll.
ReplyDeleteSoon, they will be more compatible and more affordable. Then, I'll buy one. Can't wait!
ReplyDelete