I finally got to test drive a Nook Touch yesterday, right after sitting in a coffee shop reading my Kindle 3 for an hour, and I have to admit I was instantly in love; I wanted to leave my Kindle 3 behind at Barnes & Noble and bring home a Nook Touch instead. Even anchored by a security cable, it felt lighter and easier to hold while reading.

But that was only a brief infatuation, and this morning I’m glad my Kindle is still with me. Because as much as I loved playing with the Nook Touch, I’m not willing to come on board until Barnes & Noble fine-tunes some issues with the device and its customer service.

Two notes before I begin:

• These won’t be dealbreakers for every consumer, but they’re real issues that you should be aware of.
• If you’re savvy with computers and/or consumer technology, the Nook Touch can be rooted and you can do all sorts of fun things with it, so some of the limitations below won’t apply to you.

1. There’s no way to email yourself documents or web pages

If you want to sideload personal documents or ebooks, you have to do it via USB cable while the Nook Touch is tethered to your PC, or load it onto a memory card and insert that into the Nook Touch.

By comparison, every Kindle is assigned an email address upon purchase, and you can email various documents to it from anywhere. Lots of third party developers have taken advantage of this to provide easy ways to send your Kindle web content, including Readability (my new favorite), Instapaper and Read It Later. You can also set up Calibre, the free ebook library manager, to email RSS feeds or ebooks to your Kindle.
 

2. The browser is hidden and may not be as functional as the Kindle browser

Although Amazon has always called it an “experimental” feature, every Kindle model so far has come with a web browser that you can access directly. The Kindle 3′s browser is in fact fairly advanced and does a great job at HTML rendering.

You can access the browser from a Nook Touch, but not in an obvious way—there’s no menu option, so instead you type a URL in the search field. (The Kindle 3 offers this shortcut as well, but it’s in addition to the menu option. Amazon also advertises the web browser as a feature, whereas B&N makes no mention of a web browser at all in its Nook Touch marketing.)

I’m pretty sure the Nook Touch demo unit I played with was set up to kick me out of the browser after a short period, but I was never able to get beyond a Google search page using the search field shortcut. On Google, I could then search for another page, but inevitably the browser would quit and I’d be redirected to the Nook’s home page.
 

3. Activating the Nook Touch is a pain

Teleread has published a detailed review of the Nook Touch by a blogger named John Schember, and while it’s mostly positive, his description of the mandatory First Run Wizard shows just how far B&N still has to go before mastering the “it just works” design philosophy.

First, John says, you have to be online so the Nook Touch can be activated by B&N’s servers. If you can’t get online at home, you have to go to a B&N store or somewhere with free public Wi-Fi. By contrast, Kindles bought from Amazon ship pre-registered, and in fact you can still use your Kindle to read ebooks even if you never register it or activate the wireless connection.

Next, you have to agree to a 178 page Terms of Service document. Most of the legalese is for the B&N account that you will use with the device, but it’s still an unsettling experience to pay for a device outright and suddenly be forced to agree to a lengthy list of things you can and can’t do on it. As John writes, “It’s my reader, I bought it, I’m not renting it from B&N, they should not be dictating anything to me about the use of my property!”

And finally, you have to have a B&N account. John sums up the problem with this pretty clearly:

Again I do not want my Nook connecting to the internet. I do not want to download books using the Nook. I do not want to register it with my B&N account. I do not use the connectivity features nor do I want them. The Nook does not make this an option. You must sign into a B&N account which registers the device with B&N before you can use the device.

Certainly most people will expect and want the Nook to be able to easily connect to B&N, but if you’re not one of them, you’re out of luck.
 

4. Barnes & Noble uses the home screen for advertising

One result of the forced registration, notes John in his review, is that B&N loads samples onto your Nook at the end. You can archive them so they’re removed from your Nook, but again, by comparison Amazon treats your Kindle as your Kindle and doesn’t put any ebook on it without your permission.

Worse than that, in my opinion, is B&N reserves nearly 50% of the home page to market new books to you in the context of “expert suggestions.” B&N doesn’t make it clear how this section will work—in some shots it looks like your friends’ recommendations will appear there (assuming you have extroverted friends with Nooks), and in other shots it looks like the company will suggest titles. Either way, it’s outside content that’s intended to get you to buy more books.

Amazon does include advertising on special discounted Kindles, but the difference is you have to essentially opt-in (by choosing the “special offers” model), and Amazon compensates you with a $25 price cut. If you just want to compare where book recommendations appear, on the Kindle they show up when you visit the store on your device. Otherwise you don’t see them.

It’s true that at least Nook’s ads are for books, not (as with Amazon) credit cards or special sales. Still, this means that every time you activate your Nook to start reading, you’ll be hit with the E Ink equivalent of in-store advertising from Barnes & Noble.
 

5. Barnes & Noble customer service is awful

Amazon offers a refund policy for Kindle purchases. Barnes & Noble does not. To me, that alone is enough of a differentiator to make me want to shop from Amazon, but it won’t sway everyone.

Here are a couple of more subjective examples that I think illustrate how crummy B&N is with customer service:

First, in John’s review, he mentions that by default B&N sometimes pushes his Nook files to him in PDB format. PDB files work on the first Nook but not on the Nook Touch. When John called customer service to find out what he could do, he was told he simply couldn’t read those books on his Nook! After some online searching, John found that he was only receiving PDB files because he was using a Mac, and in Safari you can fake a different browser’s identity (e.g. Firefox or IE) and receive the EPUB format instead.

The point is, B&N’s own customer service was useless, and in fact essentially told John he couldn’t read the Nook ebooks he’d paid for, without offering a solution. John writes:

B&N support is terrible and will often make you more confused than help you. I am not confident in B&N support and there is quite a bit of miscommunication throughout the company.

Second, my own recent personal experience with B&N’s customer service was hands down the worst I’ve had with any company in at least five years. I’d purchased a Groupon offer and gave the code to my sister, who then applied it along with two gift cards to a big order of books for her sons. Everything we did was within the rules of both Groupon’s and B&N’s fine print (believe me, I quadruple-checked), but B&N’s overzealous fraud department flagged her order and canceled it without explaining why. The easiest thing would have been to walk away and buy the books elsewhere, but we now had two gift card balances and a Groupon purchase invalidated, so we were forced to deal with it. It took—no kidding—ten business days and over twenty phone calls, along with at least three order reversals from active to canceled to active again, before B&N sent the books. And then they left out two of the titles. Their fraud department still thinks my sister is some low-rent con artist, I think.

Although that concerned physical books and not the Nook, it soured me on B&N for a long time, especially since the problem wasn’t with physical inventory but with payment types (meaning it overlaps the Nook space). I’m not surprised at all to see that John couldn’t get any useful information about the format problem when he called.

For my needs, the first issue—not being able to email myself content—is a huge problem. I use my Kindle as an extension of my desktop, shooting web pages and articles over to it so I can read them later when I’m not at my desk, and I like the fact that I can email ebooks to it from Calibre.

I’m guessing the online/registration issues are less bothersome for most consumers. After all, the Nook is designed to work with the cloud, and to do that it has to be online and registered.

I think customer service is a big deal, though. My personal experience with B&N is an extreme case, but I also hate the lack of a refund policy, and as John discovered you may not be able to trust B&N with even basic technical support if a problem arises.

There are plenty of well-documented reasons to buy a Nook Touch, so I’m not saying it’s a bad choice. Just make sure you know what you’re getting into before you commit to it.

[The developer] contacted AppleInsider to note that Amazon had invited him via email to bring the app to Kindle, noting that the company was especially interested in educational apps.

As AppleInsider notes, Barnes & Noble recently announced that it will release an update to the Nook Color in the coming weeks that will give it many more tablet-like capabilities — including, I imagine, the ability to play immensely popular casual games like Angry Birds. You can already do this on the Nook Color if you hack it, but the point is, the B&N update will bring this functionality to the masses.

The Kindle clearly can’t really compete with that sort of tablet whizbangery, but it’s great at less processor-intensive content like reference works and study aids.

It’s not clear from the AppleInsider post whether the developer is speculating about this or whether Amazon said as much to him in its email, so like most Kindle-related news, don’t take it too seriously until there’s proof.

“Amazon inviting Apple’s iOS developers to port apps to Kindle” [AppleInsider] (Photo: -ajp and Atomium)

I’m not a big fan of the Nook Wi-Fi myself — I never warmed to the LCD touch panel at the bottom — but it’s got some great strengths, the biggest of which is that it uses the ePub format. This means you can read Kobo and Sony ebooks as well as most library ebooks on it, which just isn’t possible on the otherwise terrific Kindle.

Nook Wi-Fi refurbished for $99 [Buy.com]

(Photo: AMagill)

Original post:
Remember that $20-for-$10 Amazon deal that LivingSocial offered a couple of weeks ago? Now Barnes & Noble is offering the same thing, only this time through Groupon.

The offer is good for three more days, and the credit expires on April 10th.

$20 for $10 Barnes & Noble Offer at Groupon [via GalleyCat] ]]> http://booksprung.com/groupon-offering-20-barnes-noble-gift-card-for-10/feed 0 http://booksprung.com/amazon-and-barnes-noble-push-apps-to-more-device-platforms http://booksprung.com/amazon-and-barnes-noble-push-apps-to-more-device-platforms#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:53:22 +0000 Chris Walters http://booksprung.com/?p=4656

Both companies have been rolling out or announcing new versions of their reading apps over the past several days. First, Amazon promised that it plans to release Kindle apps for future Android and Windows tablets that come to market (this week is the annual Consumer Electronics Show, where such devices usually first appear). Then it announced a new app for Windows Phone 7 at www.amazon.com/kindleforwindowsphone.

Barnes & Noble counter-released an announcement that it’s now offering a Nook Kids app for free on the iPad. Actually, the app was released on December 23rd, but I suppose B&N wants to get in on the CES coverage as well.

If you’ve got kids, the iPad Nook Kids app is a perfectly fine replacement for owning an actual Nook Color. It pretty much replicates the bookseller’s custom read-along titles exactly–and it’s a vast improvement over anything iBooks is offering right now. (Although version 1.0.0 seems to have a bug where it crashes if wireless is turned off.)

As of late summer 2010, the ebook device “war” has more or less come down to four choices–Kindle, nook, Kobo and Sony Reader–and the company behind each has worked hard to differentiate its product.

Nook split into two versions so it could offer a cheaper Wi-Fi only model. Kindle quickly followed suit. As for Kobo, this week’s rumor is that it will release a $99 device by Christmas, but the rumor is literally just party gossip for now. And Sony just announced updated Readers with better touch-screen technology.

There are more expensive options if you want to go for a multi-purpose device (iPad, Dell Streak, perhaps upcoming Android tablets), but if you’re trying to spend as little as possible to acquire a high quality single-function ereader device that’s linked to a big ebook store, those four are the serious contenders.

So which one is the best?

Over at The Reading Edge, Len Edgerly decided to compare the same book across all four devices to see how they stacked up. If you’re planning on buying an ereader this fall, you’ll find the video immensely useful as a source of hands-on demonstrations, which is something that’s more or less impossible in real world shopping scenarios.

The video (embedded below) is nearly half an hour long, so I’ve also summarized the key points.

Here’s the summary.

Round 1: Sony Reader vs. Kobo

Kobo has better screen size, and feels better in the hand. Sony Reader feels more computerish but accesses books faster. Winner: Kobo.

Round 2: Kobo vs. nook vs. Kindle

“If all you want to do is read a book, the Kobo works great.” If you like to highlight, take notes, or look up words, the Kobo is not good. Winners: nook and Kindle.

Round 3: nook vs. Kindle

Screens are too similar to call. Nook’s touchscreen interface is fancier than Kindle’s plastic keyboard, but it can require multiple presses before registering a tap, and doesn’t always provide a smooth user experience. Kindle is lighter than either nook model, and the upcoming Kindle 3 is even lighter.

Edgerly then compared the two devices across 5 different tasks:

So there you have it–at least as far as Edgerly is concerned, the Kindle bests nook in several usability categories, and both the Kindle and nook are better choices than Kobo or the Sony Reader. Interestingly, a couple of months ago Consumer Reports also gave the edge to Kindle in their ereader comparison.

“TRE 30 The Wolf Hall Tournament of E-Readers” [The Reading Edge Podcast]

RELATED
“Kindle still on top in latest Consumer Reports tests”

(Photo: claudiogennari)

Walt Mossberg reviews the nook

Thinking of buying a Barnes & Noble nook instead of a Kindle? It’s sexier, especially with that full color touch panel on the bottom, but the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg says it’s not “fully baked” and that you should hold off for now.

You can watch his video review below, but here’s his summary after spending a week with the device:

GOOD
• you can lend books [yeah but not very easily! -Ed.]
• the touchschreen navigation/keyboard panel is unique

BAD

• it’s slower than the Kindle
• generally buggy

In his companion review at AllThingsD, he says this about the sluggishness of the nook:

For instance, the Nook constantly delayed taking me to books while the main screen displayed a message that said “formatting.” Its standard practice is to open books you select not at the actual start of the book, but at a description of the book. Turning pages inside books was slower than on the Kindle. Looking up a word in the built-in dictionary, a quick process on the Kindle, was far harder on the Nook. Even swiping the touch screen to turn pages would suddenly stop working for periods of time.

In the video, he adds, “After a week of testing the nook I have to say my overall conclusion is it’s not a match at launch against the kindle… It looks like a product that was rushed to market… I recommend that if you’re interested in the nook, you wait a while until it’s fully baked.”

“Nook E-Reader Has Potential, but Needs Work” [AllThingsD] ]]> http://booksprung.com/mossberg-reviews-nook-its-not-fully-baked-yet/feed 0 http://booksprung.com/dont-believe-the-hype-about-lending-ebooks-on-the-barnes-noble-nook http://booksprung.com/dont-believe-the-hype-about-lending-ebooks-on-the-barnes-noble-nook#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:10:28 +0000 Chris Walters http://booksprung.com/?p=759

If you’ve read reviews about the nook, the new Kindle competitor from Barnes & Noble, you may have heard that you can lend ebooks to friends. But don’t get suckered in by this claim. Barnes & Noble is conveniently leaving out some crucial information about how the process works, and it turns out the “loan your book” feature is a lot less useful than most bloggers and journalists are making it sound.

So how does the lending feature work? Barnes & Noble doesn’t provide a lot of detail on it–the Nook promo page on barnesandnoble.com simply says the device “lets you loan eBooks to friends, free of charge.” Naturally your friends will also all have to have registered nooks to participate, but I’ll assume that’s evident to most consumers.

But here’s the trickier part. Some readers over at the MobileRead forums asked Barnes & Noble to clarify how lending would work, and they found out the following details:

• You can only lend an ebook if the publisher allows it; this can be turned off exactly like how publishers can turn off the text-to-speech feature on Kindle titles.
• You can only lend an ebook out for 14 days maximum.
• You can only lend an ebook once; after that, lending is permanently disabled on the title.

The first condition is ridiculous, but I don’t want to hijack my own post just to rail some more about stupid/greedy publishers. Some people won’t have a problem with the other two conditions, either because their friends are fast readers or because they rarely lend physical copies of books more than once. But for the rest of us, watch out. For example, say you loan your mom your copy of The Road and she doesn’t finish it within that 2 week window; she’ll have to go buy her own copy to get through the last few chapters. You won’t be able to lend it to her for a second 14-day period, and you’ll never be able to lend it to anyone else ever again, either.

Barnes & Noble could make this feature actually usable with just a couple of small changes. They could expand the lending window to 30 days, plenty of time for most people to get through an average book. More useful, they could expand the number of times you can loan out a book, say to five instances. That would provide enough flexibility so that you and your friend can decide how long the loan should last.

But it’s unlikely Barnes & Noble will bother. You see, the real point of this feature isn’t for customers at all–it’s for Barnes & Noble, because it gives the company a ton of positive, free press: “Wow, the nook lets you lend books! The Kindle doesn’t do that!”

So take all the hype with a grain of salt, and remember that if you want to really find out the details of a new device these days, look on forums and message boards. That’s where actual target customers are likely to come together and ask the hard questions, even if the media doesn’t.

This post originally appeared on Kindlerama.com.

If you’ve read reviews about the nook, the new Kindle competitor from Barnes & Noble, you may have heard that you can lend ebooks to friends. But don’t get suckered in by this claim. Barnes & Noble is conveniently leaving out some crucial information about how the process works, and it turns out the “loan your book” feature is a lot less useful than most bloggers and journalists are making it sound.

So how does the lending feature work? Barnes & Noble doesn’t provide a lot of detail on it–the Nook promo page on barnesandnoble.com simply says the device “lets you loan eBooks to friends, free of charge.” Naturally your friends will also all have to have registered nooks to participate, but I’ll assume that’s evident to most consumers.

But here’s the trickier part. Some readers over at the MobileRead forums asked Barnes & Noble to clarify how lending would work, and they found out the following details:

• You can only lend an ebook if the publisher allows it; this can be turned off exactly like how publishers can turn off the text-to-speech feature on Kindle titles.
• You can only lend an ebook out for 14 days maximum.
• You can only lend an ebookonce; after that, lending is permanently disabled on the title.

The first condition is ridiculous, but I don’t want to hijack my own post just to rail some more about stupid/greedy publishers. Some people won’t have a problem with the other two conditions, either because their friends are fast readers or because they rarely lend physical copies of books more than once. But for the rest of us, watch out. For example, say you loan your mom your copy of The Road and she doesn’t finish it within that 2 week window; she’ll have to go buy her own copy to get through the last few chapters. You won’t be able to lend it to her for a second 14-day period, and you’ll never be able to lend it to anyone else ever again, either.

Barnes & Noble could make this feature actually usable with just a couple of small changes. They could expand the lending window to 30 days, plenty of time for most people to get through an average book. More useful, they could expand the number of times you can loan out a book, say to five instances. That would provide enough flexibility so that you and your friend can decide how long the loan should last.

But it’s unlikely Barnes & Noble will bother. You see, the real point of this feature isn’t for customers at all–it’s for Barnes & Noble, because it gives the company a ton of positive, free press: “Wow, the nook lets you lend books! The Kindle doesn’t do that!”

So take all the hype with a grain of salt, and remember that if you want to really find out the details of a new device these days, look on forums and message boards. That’s where actual target customers are likely to come together and ask the hard questions, even if the media doesn’t.