nook II

This post unlike the other nook post is just about the nook and not done from my nook.

I'm pretty impressed by it so far.  I've been able to read more than I have in the entire time we've been married since getting it.  That number would be really impressive if reading was a hobby up until now.  Strange that it took a geek device for me to appreciate the joy of quietly getting engrossed in a storyline.  Maybe not so strange seeing as I am a geek.

There are benefits and drawbacks to it though and with the newest firmware upgrade, there are more of both.

First the main draw is that you can download books (some free through the Google Books project) straight to the device, through AT&T's mobile network.  I find though that for free books, the quality of gutenberg.org and feedbooks.org are superior.  Many of the free books are also available from Barnes & Noble (the only place you can purchase books through for the nook) for very cheap.  Usually $0.99 - $2 and somehow, no sales tax.

The price of most books is cheaper too.  One example is American Lion about Andrew Jackson.  The hardcover is $18 and the eBook is $10.  Score.  I got a $30 gift card from my mother-in-law and still haven't used it all.  I'm very frugal with books still.

With the newest firmware upgrade the additions have been
1) Games
  - Sudoku
  - Chess
2) Web Browser
3) an improved dictionary function.
4) Moved the Audio Player to the main menu

Now I think that putting games on it is a bad idea.  It minimizes the point of the device and tries poorly to do something that it's not for.  Let PS3 and Apple do "everything".  nook should just do one thing and do it well. Playing chess has nothing to do with reading, except that it might be the same segment of the population that gets into both in a big way.  Still, for me it's a distraction which I don't need.

The web browser would be cool if it did two things that it doesn't.  You can only browse if you're using you're using the WiFi and not using the AT&T's network.  That's lame.  The other thing that would make it cool is if you could download books from other sources like the aforementioned gutenberg.org and feedbooks.org.  But you can't.  You still have to download them to your laptop, PS3, PC, iCrap, G1, smartphone ..... and then sideload (and yes I know I'm a sellout for using that word) to the nook.  Which begs the question; Why not just read the book on one of those?

My G1 for example has an eBook reader app that will go and get a book, download it and let me read it, while listening to music on the music player, and let me use thefreedictionary.com (app) to look up words.  All with a backlight.  And it fits in my pocket.  Pretty much it does everything my nook does, better, other than the screen size and battery life, which is why I got my nook in the first place.

So anyway, nook is cool, but should stick to doing the one thing it does well.  Keep the music player, bag the games, improve the dictionary or use an online one, and mostly add text to speech.  That would make it perfect in my mind.  A browser that let's me use the cell network to download free better books would just be gravy.