Kindle or Nook?

[Acsenray]

Are there any retail in store displays where you can actually play around with a Kindle?

[NineToTheSky]

@Leaper

Just to ask, what’s the selection like, exactly, with these readers? I see they have very old titles (through Project Gutenberg) and very new titles, but what about in between? Would I have an extremely poor chance of finding stuff that’s not very generally popular, or does the cheapness of “printing” in that format actually make that chance better?

…

I can only speak about the Kindle, but there has recently been a thread here asking for recommendations for books on time travel. Just out of interest, I checked how many were available for the Kindle: only one or two. There were well known authors like Heinlein and Asimov amongst the less well known. Taking another topic at random: I am very interested in Pink Floyd. There are dozens of paper books; yet only one for the Kindle.

eBooks have several advantages, but they are not yet a complete substitute for the real thing.

[Snickers]

@acsenray

Are there any retail in store displays where you can actually play around with a Kindle?

Possibly. The Kindle is available at Minneapolis-area Targets; I haven’t been into one yet that didn’t have a physical unit there to play with and sample. I believe that Best Buy also carries all three: the Kindle, the Nook, and the Sony eReaders, so you might be able to play with them there as well. However, Best Buy is also Minneapolis-based; I’m not certain whether either Target or Best Buy have rolled out display units to stores in the rest of the country or not. (I’m betting so, though, since it’s the Christmas season.)

The Nook should also be available at your local Barnes & Noble for sampling and playing with as well.

SpouseO bought me the Kindle for my birthday in October; I love it. I’ve found the selection on Amazon to be good so far, but there has been a few authors that aren’t available yet. (Patrick O’Brien and Heinlein spring to mind; Kindle formats of Master & Commander or Starship Troopers weren’t available when I checked last week.)

[Thudlow_Boink]

@Leaper

Just to ask, what’s the selection like, exactly, with these readers? I see they have very old titles (through Project Gutenberg) and very new titles, but what about in between? Would I have an extremely poor chance of finding stuff that’s not very generally popular, or does the cheapness of “printing” in that format actually make that chance better?

As I said in another thread, I can see that it’d be in some companies’ interest to heavily push e-readers to stifle interest in unprofitable older and more obscure books/authors, not to mention used books (since there’s no such thing as selling or buying a “used” e-book).

Right now, the selection is spotty. I suspect and hope that as time goes on, publishers will make more and more of their older books available in e-book format. I also hope they’re not too thickheaded to realize they’ll sell a lot more electronic copies if they’re priced less than what I can get a used copy for, rather than two or three times as much. After all, when you order on Amazon, it’s pitifully easy to compare the Kindle price to what new and used print copies are selling for.

(Unrelated issue: I wonder if there’ll ever be a time when most/all “copies” of a book are locked away behind a proprietary and obsolete format, like some computer tapes are today? Though I see from a post that there are converters - probably technically illegal - out there, so perhaps that’s not a huge issue, but still.)

If I understand correctly, a converter like Calibre won’t remove or convert DRM, so I don’t see why it would be “technically illegal.”

And, as a WAG, I suspect that if someone really wanted to remove the DRM from an ebook, the obstacles would be more legal (and moral) than practical; and that if the DRM were obsolete and no longer supprted, the legal and moral obstacles would be more easily overcome.

@NineToTheSky

I can only speak about the Kindle, but there has recently been a thread here asking for recommendations for books on time travel. Just out of interest, I checked how many were available for the Kindle: only one or two. There were well known authors like Heinlein and Asimov amongst the less well known. Taking another topic at random: I am very interested in Pink Floyd. There are dozens of paper books; yet only one for the Kindle.

Usually, if it isn’t on Amazon, it isn’t available for the Kindle; but quite a few science fiction books (including some Heinlein titles) are sold through Baen’s website. And there may be, at present or in the future, more third-party suppliers out there for other particular kinds of books.

[Atrael]

@NineToTheSky

I can only speak about the Kindle, but there has recently been a thread here asking for recommendations for books on time travel. Just out of interest, I checked how many were available for the Kindle: only one or two. There were well known authors like Heinlein and Asimov amongst the less well known. Taking another topic at random: I am very interested in Pink Floyd. There are dozens of paper books; yet only one for the Kindle.

eBooks have several advantages, but they are not yet a complete substitute for the real thing.

And a quick google search on the first three posts in that thread showed ebooks available for all of the authors. Not being available on Amazon or Barnes and Nobles web sites is not the same as not available at all.

Publishers are going to have to start stepping up their game, and providing a reasonable method for people to purchase these books or it’s going to do the same thing to ebooks as it did to .mp3s, drive people to piracy to obtain what they want.

[Winkie]

@Snickers

Possibly. The Kindle is available at Minneapolis-area Targets; I haven’t been into one yet that didn’t have a physical unit there to play with and sample. I believe that Best Buy also carries all three: the Kindle, the Nook, and the Sony eReaders, so you might be able to play with them there as well. However, Best Buy is also Minneapolis-based; I’m not certain whether either Target or Best Buy have rolled out display units to stores in the rest of the country or not. (I’m betting so, though, since it’s the Christmas season.)

I was able to play with a Kindle and three versions of the Sony eReader at a Target in central Indiana several months ago - and the Nook at the Barnes and Noble next door. I was almost certain that I was getting a Kindle until I played with them, and then ended up with the Nook. It just felt better in my hands. YMMV, obviously

[Unintentionally_Blank]

I bought a nook, was really happy with it…then I was the refresh-rate of the 3rd gen Kindle and felt a little pang of jealousy…then B&N released the latest software update and it REALLY improved page turning…it’s on par with the competition now.

[Eleanor_of_Aquitaine]

@Thudlow_Boink

Right now, the selection is spotty. I suspect and hope that as time goes on, publishers will make more and more of their older books available in e-book format. I also hope they’re not too thickheaded to realize they’ll sell a lot more electronic copies if they’re priced less than what I can get a used copy for, rather than two or three times as much. After all, when you order on Amazon, it’s pitifully easy to compare the Kindle price to what new and used print copies are selling for.

I’m getting a Kindle for Christmas. I borrowed one of the new Kindles a few weeks ago and read a book on it, and I liked the experience more than I thought I would.

But I don’t think I’ll be buying very many e-books until the prices come down, and/or the price of used books goes up. I think used print books will become more dear if a lot of people switch to buying e-books.

[CanvasShoes]

I Love my nook, if I remember right when I checked out the Kindle it was too heavy and uncomfortable in my hand, the Nook seemed lighter and more comfortable to use. (but bear in mind, I have a painful muscle condition so likely isn’t a concern for most people).

[unwashed_brain]

@CanvasShoes

I Love my nook, if I remember right when I checked out the Kindle it was too heavy and uncomfortable in my hand, the Nook seemed lighter and more comfortable to use. (but bear in mind, I have a painful muscle condition so likely isn’t a concern for most people).

This impression is incorrect, as both the Kindle 2 and the current Kindle are lighter than both versions of the Nook. The original Kindle might’ve been heavier and bulkier, but the Kindle 2 had been out a while by the time the first Nook was available.

[NineToTheSky]

Just to confirm this, the Kindle 3 is 0.54lbs and the Nook is 0.75lbs mono and 0.99lbs colour. (Though the Kindle 2 is 1.2lbs.)

[unwashed_brain]

@NineToTheSky

Just to confirm this, the Kindle 3 is 0.54lbs and the Nook is 0.75lbs mono and 0.99lbs colour. (Though the Kindle 2 is 1.2lbs.)

According to this, the Kindle 2 is 10.2 ounces (.6375 lb).
http://gdgt.com/amazon/kindle/2/specs/

[NineToTheSky]

You are, of course, quite right. I was confusing the 2 and the DX.