December 01, 2009

• Bluehorse rulez: *Never buy first out* *Never buy overpriced first out during Christmas* If it looks like a good thing, it will have half the bugs/be twice as cheap in the Beta. Now, someone convince me of the superiority of digital readers over ink-and-paper.
• Bombast aside, this looks like a nice piece of machinery. My birthday's in March, thanks.
• Not available for xmas. Uh, that's about the dumbest thing I've heard today.
• Sounds like a good item for next year's Christmas List. There are plenty of techy things I'm not on board with (iphone? idon'tthinkso.), but if it improves on the Kindle in such things as affordability and versatility, the Nook will be a great way to pack several books and a newspaper into a easily carried package...
• This looks really neat but probably won't be of much use to anyone outside the US for a while. Since it runs Android, it should have lots of potential for other useful apps - web browser, email reader, GPS etc. as long as B&N doesn't lock it down too tightly.
• At $10 a pop these downloads might only be competitive for new releases. But then there's the capacity of this nooky slimline unit. In the FAQ it says, "Your nook has enough storage for about 1,500 eBooks." Tempting...
• See, I think a web browser/email reader/gps etc is actually a disincentive. I think part of the reason I have so much trouble with extended reading on the computer is that there are just too many damn distractions. A dedicated reader, with its high storage capacity and pleasing e-ink would be ideal, but please don't tempt me with the distractions of the world wide web.
• MonkeyFilter: please don't tempt me with the distractions of the world wide web Good one, Nicky. We haven't had a tagline in quite some time.
• Point taken, Nickdanger ,(and nice to see ya, btw). A device that does what it's meant to do, very well, would be preferable to one that does a number of things half-assedly. To browse the web properly you'd want a colour screen, which would compromise the eye-pleasing e-ink, for example. And sitting down to read a book without distractions could well be preferable to having other temptations at hand.
• I wouldn't buy this now, and probably not next year either. However, it does excite me as a librarian. If this technology could be adapted to a library setting, how awesome would that be? Imagine having the entire library eBook collection at your fingertips the moment you enter. No more queuing up at the catalogue terminals to search for what you want. Have the search parameters personalised to your preferences. Borrow eBooks on the spot! Instead of lugging around huge heavy textbooks (I've seen several students use wheely suitcases to carry their textbooks plus laptops and other stuff), have all your course textbooks stored in one little gadget. The library could lease or loan the eReaders out for students who can't afford to buy one. I really wish I had the resources to implement this sort of thing....
• Now, someone convince me of the superiority of digital readers over ink-and-paper, typed the blogger.
• I was going to reply to that too, but I wrote it down on a piece of paper, and couldn't get it to post. Stupid computers.
• hurumph! *she posted*
• Someday I predict someone takes books and actually attaches moving visuals with them. I then predict that these moving visuals will get projected onto a large screen, with sound eventually added so that there isn't even text to read anymore.
• I've seen one, and I wasn't impressed with the "Digital Ink" pages. Haven't seen a Kindle, so can't say if it's better, but I can't stand the way the screen refresh works. If that doesn't give you the pause it does me, then it's a nice device.
• I'm waiting for full color ink. Picture books are boring otherwise.