I thing Barnes and Noble has a winner here. This is definitely a Kindle killer. It’s as though B&N looked at all the flaws and complaints of the Kindle and ran with it. The interesting feature that I like is that you can share your ebooks with other people, and every book in B&N’s catalog has a free preview. Now match this with the built-in Wifi and 3-ish-G from  AT&T for always being connected, you’ve got a winner. I think I’m sensing a birthday or Christmas gift for myself.
But nothing is without a few issues. First, being an Android device, I’m a bit surprised to the thickness of the product being a 1/2 inch. I guess I was looking more towards that highly thin tablet the Capt. Piccard used to carry, wafer thin. Next, with the always connected ability of the device, why no browser? Or did I miss that? It comes with an MP3 player, might as well throw in a browser, not chewing up much data with that, even AT&T can handle that.
Next, and it’s not their fault, is that being an electronic device, it’s not airplane friendly. I fly quite a bit and have given up trying to use the ebook reader on my iPhone because of outdated rules of electronic devices on planes. have to be turned off when the door closes, and since a lot of flights are delayed, they close the doors and pull away from the gate (so they can claim on-time departure) then sit there for 20 or so minutes. That’s a lot of reading time I loose. Next, you take off and can’t turn on your device until you’re past 10,000 feet. Why not 8634 feet? What’s so magical about 10,000? And the worst part, when you’re within 150 miles of your destination or 30 minutes out, all devices must be off. So I’ve been carrying old fashioned paperbacks with me, and I keep loosing my place in the books. Would love to be able to use an electronic e-reader from start to finish, from the moment I sit down on to the time I get up. I’ll just have to sit in a window seat and keep a look out for the flight attendant I guess.
But with a $259 price tag, is it worth it? I think it’s maybe a little too steep but hey, gotta help America get back on track (although it’s probably made overseas).
Ok, so a quick followup, the first major kink in the armor. Leave it to the content providers to find a way to rub off the polish on the Nook. How, apparently the lending feature is restricted to just one time and even that feature is by the publishers choice. If I buy a hardcopy book, I can lend it as much as I want.
Unfortunately, the “world’s most advanced e-book reader” limits the LendMe feature to one 14-day period per book, ever, and that’s only if the publisher gives permission. You also can’t read the title yourself during the loaner period.
L u k e n . o r g 