Caveat: I have not tried the Nook. The information below is from information I received at the store or online.
You may know by now that I have been resistant to adopting the electronic readers (oddly enough for someone who loves new technology).
You also probably know that I love to read (see TracyReaderDad.com) and, to me, there is nothing like the smell and feel of a good book. Walk into any library or book store, you will know. I feel it will be a sad day (far in the future) when books are no longer around.
Times are changing, as am I. The most recent electronic reader from Barnes & Noble piqued my interest. I spend a lot of time in Barnes & Noble reading (my favorite table on Friday nights), so when they came out with the Nook, somehow it carried more weight, for me, than Amazon coming out with the Kindle.
I want a Nook. Yikes! Did I say that? Yes, my mind is changing…the Nook is on my Christmas wish list (or sooner).
Why the Change?
Firstly, I am becoming more and more curious about the technology.
Secondly, I understand that authors will keep writing, and it is the stories that matter, not the paper that hold the words.
And lastly, the thought of having all my books on one paperback sized device is appealing. I certainly see the value for students where the heavy textbooks can be on one electronic reader.
Technical Specs
The Nook is 7.7 inches tall, 4.9 inches wide, and .5 inches deep. It weighs 11.2 ounces and includes both WiFi (802.11 b/g) and 3G connectivity (using AT&T).
It includes a rechargeable battery, a micro USB 2.0 cable, and AC adaptor. The battery is said to last for up to 10 days of reading and will recharge via the USB.
The Nook can play your MP3 music holding up to 26 hours of audio. It has a speaker (mono) and a 3.5 mm stereo plug for your headsets.
It supports PDF, EPUB and eReader formats, MP3 audio, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP. You can create your own screensaver with your own pictures.
It comes with 2 GB of memory and you can add microSD memory cards for extra capacity. Is there a backup capability to your computer? I did not see that stated anywhere.
The display is called E Ink Vizplex ™ electronic paper, which they claim can be read as easily outside as inside. You can adjust the font size for easy reading as you grow older. The book covers in your library are in full color.
Other Features
The Nook will recognize when you enter a Barnes and Noble and provide you with discounts, etc. The web site states that you will soon be able to read entire books for free. Hmmm, that would make my Friday nights very cost effective!
You can try out an excerpt before you buy, and you can loan a book to your friend via the wireless connection (peer to peer?). Interestingly, your friends do not need to have a Nook….they can be using an iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Windows PC or Mac!
How cool is that?
Summary
As I mentioned at the top, I have not tried the Nook, so I do not really know how well it works.
But, it sounds promising and I am hoping it works well. I will start saving my dollars until I have $259 of them saved up for the Nook.
TechyMike: Technology Made Easy 