eBook Formats and Readers ?'s

[Venardhi]

Actually B&N said sometime this month. The 19th is the release date for the nookcolor (which my wife is buying for me for Christmas) but the nook classic update is supposed to be by the end of the month. They have never specified a date.

Kevin

They want it out by the nookcolor launch, and from the updated nook I used last week it is pretty much done and ready to go. I have it from very reputable sources that it will be somewhere in the later days of next week.

 

[JWolf]

I have read on my iPhone. But I do prefer my Sony Reader.

I own both an iPad and an iPhone 4. In general I prefer reading books on the iPad in iBooks. In a pinch I will read using the Kindle app for the iPad, as I had to do when Zero Sum Game didn't come out in iBooks, despite the preorders. In general it is a more pleasant reading experience than I would have anticipated. I didn't think I would like the eye strain of reading on the screen, but I find it to be not bad, and I can read for extended periods with no problem.

I also occasionally read on my iPhone (on the bus, tram, etc). On the old iphone this was a poor experience, with the resolution limiting the enjoyment significantly. However, the high resolution iPhone 4 screen has made it a breeze. Yes, you have to turn pages pretty frequently, due to the small size, but the text in both iBooks and Kindle is crystal clear. Definitely acceptable for short or medium length trips.

Having said all that, I still prefer my books in dead-tree format. But since I am living in Europe for a few years, I'll likely be buying many more ebooks, to avoid having to haul them all back to the USA when I am done! :-p

Please do everyone a huge favor and don't buy any eBooks from Apple. Apple is the cause of the Agency 5. So what we want is for Apple to sell no eBooks ever.

That said, reading on the iPad is not bad at all. Bluefire is a pretty good app and it supports library eBooks and DRMed (and also DRM free) ePub. But it has to be ePub not bought from B&N or Apple.

 

[BrotherBenny]

JWolf, no one is going to listen to you if you try to browbeat them into submission.

The Agency 5 model is staying for now until publishers and booksellers figure out a middle ground, or until enough consumers make a noise. Apple won on the music front with iTunes and they're trying to win here too, which I sincerely hope they fail on, but until consumers vote with their pockets en masse, nothing is going to change.

 

[JD]

I had to get myself a new Nook since I dropped my other one. Luckily I got the extra warranty so I was able to get one UPSed to me for free.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

They want it out by the nookcolor launch, and from the updated nook I used last week it is pretty much done and ready to go. I have it from very reputable sources that it will be somewhere in the later days of next week.

Correct. And the nookcolor should be in stores as of today. There's no strict on sale date. It's going on sale as soon as stock arrives.

 

[Ktrek]

Nookcolors are arriving in stores and should be available now for test drives and purchasing. Several of our members have already gotten theirs in the mail and mine arrives tomorrow. All the reviews I have read thus far are all very positive and one reviewer said that the reading experience on the nook color was superior to the Ipad. With B&N opening up the nook color for apllication development I think it will be a fun device to own. Their application store goes live sometime in the first quater of 2011. It will also be upgradable to the latest Adnroid OS after the first of the year and it will support Flash video.

Kevin

 

[ST-One]

Nookcolors are arriving in stores and should be available now for test drives and purchasing. Several of our members have already gotten theirs in the mail and mine arrives tomorrow. All the reviews I have read thus far are all very positive and one reviewer said that the reading experience on the nook color was superior to the Ipad. With B&N opening up the nook color for apllication development I think it will be a fun device to own. Their application store goes live sometime in the first quater of 2011. It will also be upgradable to the latest Adnroid OS after the first of the year and it will support Flash video.

Kevin

I hope mine will get here till Monday.
It's now in the capable hands of Borderlinx

 

[JD]

Does anyone else's Nook skip pages when you try to change them, or turn itself off or off and on when they try to put it into sleep mode? Both Nooks I've gotten have been doing that stuff.

 

[Ktrek]

I've not had either of those problems. The nook should not turn off when you push the power button unless you hold it for several seconds. It just takes one light push for mine to go to sleep. Are you using the touchscreen for page turning or the buttons and does it do it either way? If so I would contact B&N.

Kevin

 

[Snaploud]

I own a kindle rather than a nook, but here's the information regarding nook support:

If you are having any problems with your NOOK, please call Customer Service to help troubleshoot your unit. You may call toll-free in the United States at 1-800-843-2665. Don't worry, NOOK is backed by a one year manufacturer's warranty against any mechanical failure. And if you selected the optional B&N Protection Plan at the time you purchased your NOOK, then your NOOK is covered for 2-years against mechanical failure, as well as accidental damage.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook-support-troubleshooting/379002495/?cds2Pid=35611

 

[JD]

I've not had either of those problems. The nook should not turn off when you push the power button unless you hold it for several seconds. It just takes one light push for mine to go to sleep. Are you using the touchscreen for page turning or the buttons and does it do it either way? If so I would contact B&N.

Kevin

Several times when I've held it down it has either, gone to sleep for a second and then turned back one, or it has gone to sleep and then turned off.
As for the page turning I always use the buttons.

 

[Venardhi]

The double page-turning is easily resolved with a hard reset, which is going to happen anyways when the software update installs. If the problem continues after you get 1.5, I would suggest doing it yourself. Essentially turn it off, then turn it back on, but don't let go of the button until the screen flashes, then hold it again til it flashes again. Do this six times (or more, if you want to flash the software back to an earlier version, handy for recovering the now missing non-roman-alphabet language support) I've done it several times over the last six months or so and never had anyone come back with the problem a second time.

The resetting thing when I've seen it is usually due to a faulty button, if you're sure it isn't just sloppy button pressing on your part I would suggest contacting 1800THEBOOK to see if they have a solution other than an RMA.

 

[JWolf]

JWolf, no one is going to listen to you if you try to browbeat them into submission.

The Agency 5 model is staying for now until publishers and booksellers figure out a middle ground, or until enough consumers make a noise. Apple won on the music front with iTunes and they're trying to win here too, which I sincerely hope they fail on, but until consumers vote with their pockets en masse, nothing is going to change.

But one thing that might help deal with the mess that is the Agency 5 is if everyone did not use iBooks to purchase eBooks.

The problem is that the Agency model isn't working. Price are too close to the price of the pBook or in some cases actually higher. Also, the prices of the eBooks are supposed to drop in accordance with the lowest price pBook and that isn't happening like it should. Too many eBook are staying at hardcover prices when the paperback is out. Basically, what this is doing is driving people to libraries and the darknet to get eBooks.

I also think this is price fixing and thus, why hasn't this been dealt with as price fixing?

 

[Thrawn]

JWolf, no one is going to listen to you if you try to browbeat them into submission.

The Agency 5 model is staying for now until publishers and booksellers figure out a middle ground, or until enough consumers make a noise. Apple won on the music front with iTunes and they're trying to win here too, which I sincerely hope they fail on, but until consumers vote with their pockets en masse, nothing is going to change.

But one thing that might help deal with the mess that is the Agency 5 is if everyone did not use iBooks to purchase eBooks.

The problem is that the Agency model isn't working. Price are too close to the price of the pBook or in some cases actually higher. Also, the prices of the eBooks are supposed to drop in accordance with the lowest price pBook and that isn't happening like it should. Too many eBook are staying at hardcover prices when the paperback is out. Basically, what this is doing is driving people to libraries and the darknet to get eBooks.

I also think this is price fixing and thus, why hasn't this been dealt with as price fixing?

Recent supreme court decisions have made it a lot harder to prove that vertically aligned price fixing is illegal. The antitrust laws as they stand right now deal more with different businesses directly competing with each other (say, several book stores) than companies not directly competing, but in the same supply chain (like, say, a publisher and a bookstore).

Unfortunately.

That said, is there any particular evidence the new pricing has dropped eBook sales? Everything I've read has seemed to indicate the market is growing as strongly as it had been before.

 

[Kataaran]

The problem is that the Agency model isn't working.

But if they're selling ebooks then by that metric it is working :/

 

[Smitty]

I have a Kindle 3 and I love it, I could detail the reasons why I chose it over the other readers but that seems to be a worn road. As for ebook pricing or this 'Agency 5' thing people are talking about I can only say this.
Before iPad came along ebook prices where what I expected, since iPad I see that some ebook prices have edged up (thanks Apple?). What I find silly stupid are those books that are more expensive as ebooks vs the paperback version. A good example that comes to mind is '1776'. At both Amazon and Barnes and Noble the ebook version is priced higher than the paperback version. So, I have not bought it and let them know why. Just does not make sense.

 

[Ktrek]

I think that the biggest complaint I hear from ebook readers is the publishers wanting to charge more for an ebook than for the mass market release. I have no problem with paying a little more when the hardcover comes out because it is less than the cost of the hardcover but I will not pay more for a book than the price of the mass market paperback. It's just plain wrong of the publishers to not lower the ebook price when they release a mass market version of a book!

Kevin

 

[JD]

Agreed. At leas the Nook books are at most the same.

 

[Snaploud]

My kindle 3 screen froze. The trouble-shooting solution didn't work, so they're sending me a new one. It will be here Saturday which is a very quick turn-over time since I just talked to them a few minutes ago.

 

[Smitty]

Nook and Amazon pricing is identical from everything I have seen, case and point is the 1776 book. They are sticking it to us via Amazon, B&N, etc.