NPR: on e-reader value vs full tablets, plus added information

NPR's Jon Kalish has an article on using the tablet-like features on e-readers, titled "Cheaper than a Tablet: Rooting" your E-Reader," something that can be done with the NookColor to remove its mild Clark Kent eyeglasses and strip it down to the full-flying Android operating system capability, for a decent price.

 Google's Android OS, coming on strong against the Apple operating system (iOS) allows use of the Android Marketplace without the restrictions of the curated Apple app store, giving access to all Android apps, but  recently to some carrying malware, as they are not checked, and to apps that can cause crashes.
  For many, the risk is worth the freedom to choose.  An Android device should be able (if the software is robust)  to run ebook-apps from all the online bookstores that make them for the Android system.  The Kindle for Android app is one.

Android tablets have several features that the Apple iPad2 doesn't have, including a decent still-picture camera (not that I'd care about that), a USB port, SD slot, the ability to run Flash used on websites (some block them anyway), and real multi-tasking.
  Also people should note that the lowest-level $500 iPad2 is only 16G for storage, and if you use it for storing video you'd run out pretty quickly. So, the equivalent 32G-storage price is $600.  And that's before adding $130 for the 3G model of the iPad and $30 for the connection kit (camera and USB) + monthly data charges.

  With Apple's iPad2, background apps are suspended when the 'front' app is running, but Android devices can do true multi-tasking, with programs actually running in the background doing things while you work with the main one.

The article's words on the Kindle
  Despite the title of the article, the first few paragraphs are about the Kindle:

' In fact, San Francisco hacker Mitch Altman doesn't read e-books on his Kindle at all.  He only uses its Web browser to access maps and restaurant listings when he's traveling.

The Amazon Kindle-3 3G (UK: K3)  has 3G data connectivity so that readers can download e-books anywhere there is cell phone service  [by AT&T and its partners in 100+ other countries)]

 As many Kindle owners know, the device can connect to Google and Wikipedia to look up things mentioned in e-books, too.  That connectivity is all the opportunity hackers need to turn an e-book reader into a tablet. [AB comment: : Note that this is NOT doable with the Kindle]

Cheap And Portable Internet
"This is something that is starting to get around in geek and hacker circles, and it's a relatively cheap way to have Internet anywhere you go," Altman says.

When Altman says it's cheap, he's referring to the fact that the 3G Kindle costs a mere $190 and there is no charge for the 3G Internet.  Of course, there's a trade-off here: the Kindle doesn't have a touch screen, so you have to use scrolling buttons to navigate around the screen, which Altman has found cumbersome. But for $60 more, he could've gotten the Nook Color. '

3G vs WiFi
  Kalish does mention that, for that added $60, the NookColor does NOT have 3G access to the Net, which makes  access possible as you're walking down the street.  The NookColor uses only WiFi  for accessing the Net.
   I don't know about others' experience, but wherever I go now, all nearby WiFi networks are "secured," as security setups are now automated by routers today.  You'd need the password or passkey unless you find free WiFi.  Since that can be done at Starbucks or McDonald's, some will find it but they're not places I tend to visit.

 3G cellular access is almost always possible just about anywhere you happen to be.  But on an e-Ink screen, it's slow and requires patience.  I use mine mainly for look-ups while out and for reading feeds of text from various news sites.  I also use it to look up reviews of a product I'm undecided on when out and encountering an enticing sale.  The reviews usually let me know just why they're on sale.

 The definite slowness of e-Ink 3G web access on the Kindle does not encourage anything resembling web-surfing, but it's great for looking up (for no added cost)  info when you don't already have a smart phone with paid 3G data access.


From xkcd - Their home page
Ability to buy e-books when outside the U.S.
  Note that B&N's Nook books can be purchased only in the U.S. (and probably Canada now), and U.S./Canadian buyers cannot buy a Nook book when they are traveling outside the U.S.
  There's no such restriction on Kindle owners travelling abroad.

  The Kindle 3 not only has 3G use for downloading Kindle books, in 100+ countries, it also has free 3G web browsing in about 60 countries, usable by US customers when traveling.

  Also, most of the other 40+ countries that have 3G book downloads but which don't get free 3G web-lookups DO have instant, free 3G cellular network access to Wikipedia from their Kindle books (you get back to the book page by pressing the Back button after browsing Wikipedia).
   This is the great unmentioned feature of the Kindle.  For some reason it's not mentioned in review comparisons.  Great for those who are interested in finding out more about something they're reading. Certainly good for students.

An example of the free 3G usefulness
  I have a NookColor, which I really like for color magazines and lightweight portable web-browsing and I enjoy it without rooting it.  The Kindle is just tons more relaxing for my eyes for sustained reading of books, so the two types of devices are complementary in my case.  The new Notepad app (see discussion of how people use it at the Kindle forums) has me using it even more.
  But when I leave the house, it's the Kindle that goes with me.  It's lighter, easier to read outdoors, and it has that free 3G Net access, which is key for me, as it is for Altman.

  The NookColor doesn't have that, so it stays home.  This was emphasized on March 20, when electricity in my city went out, for several hours that night.  I looked out the window and the whole city was dark.  No WiFi, no TV, and that's when an e-reader comes in handy (or a tablet though it has less battery time).
  With e-Ink readers, a clip-on battery-powered lamp or case w/built-in lamp, or something I use for everything, the Beam n Read, are  useful at night or in dim light.

 But I'm so used to being connected to the Net, I went to my NookColor to do some email, forgetting that this was not possible, because while I can read books and magazines on it w/o electricity, I need the router to be On to use WiFi.

  As usual, the Kindle was the answer. I keep the battery high, as recommended by Kindle Support Team.
I was able to do brief emails and caught up some with Facebook (which needs a special URL for Kindle access). and also tweeted about the outage and using the Kindle.  The link is to the actual tweet.

Mobiweb file of best-for-Kindle links to websites
 The good Kindle link for Facebook (touch.facebook.com) is included in the freely downloadable "MobiWeb" file, a booklet of URLs or links that work best with the Kindle, plus info on workarounds when encountering navigational oddities at some sites.
  Included in this also are umbrella-menu sites like, Kinstant, ReadingTheNet, Skweezer, and Cantoni.  You can open it as you would any Kindle 'book' and click on links to be taken to the sites, if your wireless is 'On'... Otherwise, it asks if you'd like to turn Wireless on to do that.

You can download the file at http://bit.ly/kmobiweb.  That download will work on the Kindles.  Information and tips on using the file are at http://bit.ly/kwmobiweb.

As for the NookColor, rooting it may be easy for many active on the forums, but it has not always been as easy for others, and Barnes and Noble will be updating the device to run Flash and will have an appstore available mid-April.  These new features would satisfy most who buy e-readers and want some tablet features, I think, without the hassle of re-doing the rooting each time B & N releases software updates.  As mentioned in NPR's article, you should know that the warranty is voided, on a rooted Nook, and many are willing to take that risk, since there is always help on the forums.  But I'm not recommending it to those who are not very familiar with file management tools.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or £5 Max ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

A Look at Nook, Kindle, Based on Twitter Chat? Libraries lending Kindles - UPDATE2

A COUPLE OF INTERESTING STORIES

Today, a strange piece of research by Crimson Hexagon on the relative frequency of chatter about various ereaders on Twitter gets stories by Daemon' Books, CNet, and others.

The Nook and Nookcolor, the Kindle, and Twitter
 The study focuses on the effect of the entrance of the Nook and the NookColor this last year and looks at the amount of interest in it vs other readers based on Twitter conversations.  Yes, really.  While it emphasizes that there is much more conversation on the Kindle  (UK: K3)  than on the Nook and other e-readers See the right-hand reference column), the Kindle has been around longer and the Kindle 3 has delighted many with its clarity, lightness, and very smooth functioning of features.  The Nook monochrome and Sony have been popular with those who prize ePub e-book format and the ability to use the public library lending feature of Overdrive.

Crimson Hexagon's summary

' It’s worth noting that while the Nook readers have certainly established a solid and growing position in the e-reader market during 2010, our analysis also revealed that Amazon’s Kindle is still by far the most popular e-reader on the basis of total conversation volume on Twitter.

  Looking at the daily volume of relevant Twitter conversation for each of the devices, we see that conversation about the Kindle far outpaces the Nook and Nook Color, consistently adding up to more Tweets-per-day than both Nook devices combined (an average of about 1,000 Tweets per day for Kindle vs. just under 500 per day for Nook).
  Conversation volume for the iPad is also much lower (120 per day), though this is due to our analysis of the iPad being limited to conversations about using the device as an e-reader.  Although the Kindle continues to leverage its first-mover advantage and enjoys a dominant position in the e-reader market, consumer opinion expressed online shows the Nook is making up for lost time and quickly gaining ground and market share. '

The NookColor
I have the NookColor, as a matter of fact, and enjoy it very much as a secondary reader for books with color illustrations, magazines, and fast web browsing on a ultra-portable device, and I think that the functioning of it received a lot of thought when it was designed.  It's a lot of fun to use although I can't read longer books on the LCD screen with much comfort as I can on the e-Ink screen of the Kindle, so I don't.  But National Geographic is just amazing on it.

  Not so much the books with illustrations, it turns out, as one cannot ZOOM an image (in a book) on the NookColor, to my extreme surprise (the Kindle can).  So, while I have the color, I lose the detail that is often in illustrations used.  Nor can I rotate books to see an image larger that way.  Nevertheless I really enjoy magazines on it.  And the (easily-portable, light) web access.

More on Nook (monochrome), comparison of e-Ink model features next ...


The Nook (monochrome)
  The Nook (monochrome) is altogether another story, with an e-Ink screen manipulated by using the color strip below it as if it were a remote control and it feels like it.  Everything has a slight delay and the not-reliable touchscreen below makes it stranger that the top portion (the e-book screen) is not a touchscreen.  Those not familiar with the Kindle won't likely feel these are problems though.

Comparison of e-Ink model features
  I really prize a few things that can be done on a good e-reader (one designed with regard for how some avid readers use study tools or features, some in connection with their book club discussions).

  The weaknesses of the Nook have been the out-of-sight dictionary, the many menu-steps involved in getting to it, the highlighting and notes that are hard to find once you've made them, and the awkward and hard to find Search routines (I often search past-appearances of a character in the book).  Mainly, it's that there are multiple menu-steps for just about everything I would like to do.

  With the Kindle, the dictionary's summary-definition of a word is right there (bottom or top) for the word your cursor is on, the Search is started by merely starting to type a word or phrase, and the Results as well as Highlighting and Notes are shown, in context, in rows, rather than our having to go from one to the other slowly, and they're linked for fast access.

  Some extra features of the Kindle -- Text to Speech, which can be useful when you're cooking, washing dishes or driving; the Audible Books feature; and larger built-in storage -- are all nice to have.  There IS a music listening feature but it's limited.  And then there's the 3G cellular network access to the web that is free of web-data charges and which doesn't require finding a hotspot.
  Also, there's the private, password-protected Annotations webpage that we all have, if we allow backup of annotations.
  UPDATE - I forgot to add that the Nook is sold only in the U.S. and that e-books for it cannot be bought from Barnes and Noble outside the U.S. even by a U.S. resident who's just traveling.  As most know, the Kindle operates with 3G downloading in 100+ countries and allows free web-browsing in about 60 countries.

An unusually popular customer review of the Kindle
As far as comparisons go, however, I've been fascinated by watching the reactions to the leading customer review of the Kindle, which is unusual in that it compares the Kindle with the Nook, feature by feature, as the customer has both in his home.

  It currently has a count of 17,083 people who bothered to click Yes on the "Was this review helpful to you?" question.  The customer, Ron Cronovich, responds to questions there, as do some Kindle owners who usually have older Kindles and are interested in the Kindle 3 or who are used to helping on the various Kindle forums.
  But it's Cronovich who does the heavy lifting there, with a lot of patience, good will, and very little bias that I can see except that he's bought both e-readers and prefers the Kindle.  Cronovich gives the pros and cons of both, and the readers' responses show that he has been clearer than most reviews or reports that those browsing have read in the past.  The review has had 1,221 responses.  Really an amazing review-thread.

 The review with the next highest number of recommendations has 5,400+ 'helpful' votes and 89 responses.  If you or friends are trying to choose between the two readers, it's a good one to read, just for the detail included.

MEDIA BISTRO'S GALLEYCAT: THE RISE OF THE $5 BOOK
GalleyCat, which writes on the publishing industry, found that the Top 20 paid bestseller list in the Amazon Kindle store includes six titles with a $5 pricetag.

  So, they asked, over on their eBookNewser pages, "Is the $5.00 eBook the New $9.99 eBook?," pointing out that "Publishers have used the $5.00 eBook like a lure for fiction series, introducing readers to The Hunger Games or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  If successful, the new price point could drive eBook prices even lower."  They ask for reactions and thoughts there and have received some.

  With the low percentage that the larger publishers give authors, lower book pricing won't work that well for authors, the latter write there, as it requires more books to be sold to make the same amount, at a low percentage royalty, as at $10, but the reality is that paperbacks have always come down to $5 to $7 also, after the initial run.  The $5 books here tend to be for books no longer debuting.  Never mind that e-book pricing now tends to be higher than paperback pricing too often for a product you can't re-sell or give to a friend.   You CAN lend it once, if the publisher "allows" you to.  That will have to change.

  If an author is willing to hire editing and marketing help, they can do better, percentage-wise, with Amazon, Smashwords, and others.  Add that they won't be pink-slipped, so they can spend the energy that would be spent on sending the book to one and all, hoping for acceptance, on writing another one :-)
  The gate-keeping and marketing clout of the larger publishers are good for the authors who make it through, except for the reduced percentages in royalties in the last year.

LIBRARIES ADDING KINDLES
There is a story about the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury, NC, and the 12 Kindles it loans out, each with 80 books loaded, including latest fiction and non-fiction best sellers.  There are other news stories like this, as more and more libraries are lending reading devices, with some keeping on hand an assortment of different types.

  However, a librarian pointed out in a story yesterday that the Kindle allows an e-book to be shared on up to 6 devices, depending on the publisher's authorization.  Those depending on Adobe's ADE digital-rights-protection (Nook Sony, Kobe) present a tougher problem with that.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

NEWS: NookColor, Kindle Roundup. 'Millions' of Kindles just sold

KINDLE AND NOOKCOLOR NEWS ROUNDUP
Haven't been around the last two days and now that I'm back, I see that the news seems to be almost entirely about the holiday lists all the newspapers and 'zines are making.   I drew attention to one very popular list the other day, but on the Amazon review areas and forums, there are still many people wondering which e-reader to buy or whether or not they should upgrade their prior Kindles, so I'll go again with what's in the news.  Since I missed a couple of days, this will be extra wordy.  I miss a day and you get punished. :-) That's A Kindle World.

In the hot, color department you have LCD tablets like the Apple iPad , Samsung Galaxy 7", Archos 70 at 7" and Archos 101 at 10", and now the 7" Barnes & Noble NookColor].  As I've written, I may get a NookColor eventually as a secondary or supplemental e-reader because I would like a color e-reader for SHORT-session reading (magazines, travel, history, and art reference books), and others want color for their children.

  The trade-offs are battery life, ability to read easily in sunlight or near a window, possible eye fatigue from long-form reading (books) on a backlit screen, weight, and expense.  The iPad starts at $500 w/WiFi Only ($629 w/3G also); the Samsung Galaxy 7", quite a bit smaller but more portable than the 10" iPad, is about $600; the Archos 101 10" tablet is sold out already everywhere at $295, as it has many features the iPad doesn't, at a considerably lower cost (HDMI connector, USB port, micro SD card slot, webcam), and the NookColor e-reader (which is $250 and wisely being marketed as mainly an e-reader since it's officially not intended do what a full Android tablet can).  According to reviews the NookColor has a beautiful display and functions pretty well, especially for those who read mainly magazines (rather than many books a month) and who want to surf the web in color on a portable device.

  My main reason for hesitating, since I do have so many Kindle books with color illustrations, is that a full Android tablet (like the Archos) can actually have ALL the online bookstore apps on it (Nook, Kindle, Sony, Kobe) and there is a new Android app supporting library book rentals as well.

  So, instead of having two devices which don't allow other online bookstore apps, I'm intrigued that a full Android tablet actually could become a device that can read books from all the online bookstores, even those with proprietary e-book formats.  And we are about to see a flood of full Android tablets with price competition.

  For best information on what the Nook can and can't do right now, visit the Barnes & Noble Nookcolor forums and for best how-to information, its Nookcolor Technical Support forums.

  Also, be sure to search each bookstore for your favorite authors.

MOST POSITIVE NOOKCOLOR REVIEWS
  Here are some news items for others who are also trying to decide between the new Kindle with high-contrast e-Ink screen and the new NookColor e-reader, starting with recent appraisals of the NookColor after a few days spent with it.

  There is a rave review, in-depth, at the thorough MobileTechReview (with 23-minute, 2-part video near the bottom) and an ultra-positive review from Consumer Reports, with video also, saying it looks like a Winner.
  Those were the two standouts as far as practically 5-star reviews that have thorough pro's and con's.

Mild Caveats in the rave reviews:
MobileTechReview: "If you read indoors, especially in rooms with poor lighting, the Nook Color is a good choice.  If you read outdoors at lunch time and on vacations at the beach, get an E-Ink reader.  E-Ink displays look their best under bright light and require reading lights or ambient room lighting indoors."

  Those who "root" devices like this to get at the full Android features should know that "key Android hardware buttons (menu and back) are missing."

  PDFs: "The bad news is that you can't bookmark a page and it doesn't remember where you left off; incredibly annoying if you're reading a library novel in PDF format.  Another caveat: we tested 5 PDFs and internal links didn't work in any of them.  As a consolation, there is a "go to page" function."

Consumer Reports: "One con, though, is its weight: at 15.8 ounces, the Nook Color is relatively heavy compared with other e-book readers such as the (black-and-white screen) Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi, which weighs about 8 ounces.  There's also no 3G version for people who want to download new content on the go.  And the Nook Color costs about $100 more than the black-and-white Nook Wi-Fi, which remains on the market, or the Kindle Wi-Fi, though both are black-and-white models with slightly smaller screens that lack touch capability."
 

MORE-CAUTIOUS NOOKCOLOR REVIEWS
MSNBC review by Wilson Rothman -- (Commenters who have the Nook don't agree with his assessment.)
The VIDEO there illustrates his main caveats.  The one I agree with is about children probably finding the text in the children's books too small on a 7" screen.

The Washington Post's succinct Rob Pegoraro has a video also.  He lists what he likes what he doesn't.

  . The text was sharp enough for easy reading of e-books but the resolution wasn't high enough for him for e-magazines that mirror print versions; he had to do "a lot of zooming in and out." [My own problem with great-looking layouts on a 6-7" screen is that they are images and therefore the text is not searchable and harder to read unless you choose the 'drab' straight-text mode.]

    Text magazines can be dull in e-ink but if you can search them, that's better for an information hound -- but most people probably browse and toss.

  . "With its screen's brightness turned all the way up from the default 30 percent and the Pandora app playing non-stop, it ran for about five hours."
  [ That's good or bad depending on one's needs. ]

  . Sometimes sluggish browsing of photos (less slow than e-ink, I imagine).

DailyTech does a good summary of what it describes as "mixed reviews" so if you want more detail for your decision, take a look at that.

  It references Engadget and Gizmodo for cautions about the glare despite new lamination technology used.  You "can play movies on YouTube -- but only at the lowest resolution."

  Their Conclusion: "The Nook Color is a jack of all trades and master of none. Its also unbeatable at its price point -- because there are no other tablets at its price point. Thus the value of the device is quite debatable."

  Again, you can read what Nook users say at the B&N forum about certain glitches that are there now but will likely be fixed later.
  "At the end of the day, if your main goal is to read books digitally the Kindle (or original Nook), seems a better buy.... If you only have $250 and you have to have a tablet, the Nook Color is really the only solution out there, so it's your best bet for now.

IN OTHER NEWS
The best tech gadgets of 2010
abc27's Rob Enderle report provided by DigitalTrends...
Well, here's something unexpected.  Remember the Kindle DX? They continue to sell but not much is heard about them in the news.  This report echos what was said in the technically advanced Mobileread forums not long ago when people formerly not high on Amazon or its Kindles received theirs.
  Enderle writes:

' I picked the Kindle DX up to review thinking it was too big, and that it would end up on my shelf unused after a couple of days.  Instead I fell in love with it, and it goes with me wherever I go.  The larger screen allows me to put more text on the page, so I'm not flipping as often, and allows me to use larger text so I'm not straining my eyes and can work in low light.  While I do miss a cover with a built-in book light like the regular Kindle, I can't give up the extra size, and for me, the iPad just hasn't been a real alternative.  I have the latest model in black, and it did cost $379 but I really don't know what I'd do without my Kindle.  It is the one product I don't go anyplace without. '

Nerd Chick Adventures
Nerd Chicks give an appraisal of several e-readers Dec. 12 when color tablets are bursting out all over:

' ... we think Amazon’s Kindle Free 3G + Wi-Fi is the sure bet over the Barnes & Noble Nook Free 3G + Wi-Fi.  Kindle’s internal memory is the largest on the market (4 GB) — holding a whopping 3,500 books, audiobooks, periodicals and documents in store.  Its battery life is up to 1 month with the wireless disabled compared to Nook’s 10 days.

  The 3G and Wi-Fi capabilities allow you to wirelessly download books from practically anywhere.  It’s lighter than the Nook by 3.4 ounces and has the best high-contrast screen of any other e-reader, allowing reading in bright sunlight without glare and e-ink display is the most like reading from a traditional book.

Kindle gives you access to 1.8 million free books, and we find Amazon’s online store easier to navigate than Barnes & Noble’s. '

THE TELEGRAPH (UK) - RESISTANT KINDLE-CONVERT (another one)
This is a quite funny article.  A few exceprts:

' And so, I reluctantly took possession of a Kindle.  And like all great affairs, initial antipathy rapidly grew into fierce passion.  The Kindle is – and I say this [with] a mixture of delight and dismay – really rather fabulous.

Astonishingly, the screen is entirely free of glare and so it’s not in the least like using a computer. With an absence of backlit glare, reading the “e ink” technology is (and look away if you don’t want me to spoil it) exactly like reading a book.
  More crucially, I was able to figure out how it worked within about a minute and a half, and that’s without recourse to the leaflet it came with.

  After my husband refused to even countenance opening it, I took the Kindle along to my Book Club, although slightly warily lest I be chased out into the street and crushed to death beneath Harry Potter first editions. But the response was overwhelmingly positive, and indeed I flushed out an existing Kindle user who hadn’t like to mention it before.
. . .
Like all modern wizardry however, the devil is in the detail – does the Kindle remember your place in a book? Yes. Can you re-read books? Yes, they are automatically archived after you buy them. You can also read them on your iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC and what are called “android-based” devices, which conjures up bizarre images of CP30 and R2-D2 reciting chunks of Chaucer.

[I especially go along with this serious thought.]
Some people might elect to spend the extra couple of pounds to obtain a physical copy of the book.  But Kindles are aimed at readers whose sole interest is the contents rather than the aesthetics of a book and are perfectly happy for it to be delivered through – and stored in – the ether... '

There's more, and her last paragraph is priceless, but you can go to the article to enjoy it.


LAST BIT OF NEWS FOR TODAY
  AMAZON REPORTS SELLING "MILLIONS" OF "PEARL" KINDLES IN 1ST 73 DAYS OF QTR
Amazon reported, by thanking the Kindle Community in its forums today, unusually high sales of new Kindles, an approach they knew news bloggers would repeat around the world.

I loved Engadget's attempted calculations by Ross Miller as to what this all means, based on no earlier reports of actual numbers from Amazon, and the illustration of the complexity of this with their image of "Einstein and Special Relativity" :-) -- except that they missed that Kindle 2's can't be counted in this, as the announcement cited "millions" of "all-new Kindles" with the Pearl E-Ink display sold in the first 73 days of the holiday quarter, and the 2nd comparison Amazon made referred to the "last 73 days" (higher Kindle sales than in all of 2009).  This may have been a response (ya think?) to B&N's data-drop that they are now manufacturing 18,000 Nooks a day and loading up a jet from China every 4-5 days.  Multiply that by 30 days and that's over 500,000 month.  There's nothing better for consumers than competition.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

An L.A. Times "subjective buyer's guide" to e-readers, with Update

A Kindle version of the Lonely Planet guide to Germany lies next to the 844-page, 13.6-ounce printed version. (Richard Drew, AP / November 23, 2010)   Note that the photo is of a Kindle-2 model.

The Los Angeles Times's Business columnist Michael Hiltzik provides what he calls a "subjective buyer's guide" to e-readers.  There are some definitely interesting takes on the Kindle, the iPad and the NookColor.

Hiltzik is a "lifelong voracious reader and adherent of the books-as-totems school of household design:  One entire wall of our family room is a bookcase, floor to ceiling, and piles of books unstrategically decorate almost every other room too."

Choice excerpts from the colorfully-written Sunday column:

(Please see the UPDATE on the War and Peace book.

' Yet over the last seven months I've become a convert to e-reading, to the point where reading something bound and on paper seems almost quaint. I never thought I would make this transition, certainly not so effortlessly. I say this in full awareness that this trend may do incalculable harm to traditional bookstores, places where I have spent incalculable hours of my life.

My guidance on electronic reading came initially from the author Nicholson Baker, whose wholly admirable fetish is the archival preservation of printed artifacts — newspaper morgues, cards from library card catalogs, books. Last year Baker deconstructed the Kindle for the New Yorker...

[You have to read his description of that at the L.A. Times webpage as it's very entertaining but I can't be quoting everything.

This summer, Amazon brought out several new models, smaller, lighter, cheaper and with vastly improved screens. On the new Kindle the type appears sharper, against a background that in certain light appears almost white.

I opted for the large-format, 9.7-inch DX model because I thought I'd like the additional screen real estate.  My wife acquired the standard 6-inch model  (UK: K3).  Neither of us ever looked back.  In our house, the rustle of pages has yielded to the rhythmic clicking of page-forward buttons.

There's something liberating about a good e-reader .... There's no question that I've bought more books, and read more, than I did in any equivalent pre-Kindle period.  The two leading e-book merchants, Amazon and Barnes & Noble, allow you to download a free sample of any e-book...often enough to know you'll hate it.

Then there's the devices' huge capacity and the availability of inexpensive editions of great works in the public domain.  Here's just some of what I've currently fit on my Kindle: the haunting new Gary Shteyngart; the new Le Carre (a return to form); the new Alan Furst (so-so); two Christopher Moores (still the best: "A Dirty Job").

Also, the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation of "War and Peace" (a new gold standard) [$0.00 $7.09]* ;  the complete works of Charles Dickens ($2.99); 25 novels, stories and plays by Joseph Conrad ($4.69); the complete Sherlock Holmes (nine volumes, $3.60); and the complete works of Mark Twain ($2.99). Plus one of those Stieg Larsson things, which I wish I could unread.  Have a suggestion based upon this list? Pass it along.

So which e-reader is best? Reading is a subjective sensation, so there's no right answer...

The iPad is not an e-reader as such.  It's really an entertainment device, optimized to deliver movies, games and other visual images with great clarity.  But in my experience (about a week with a lent model) it was very difficult to read on for any length of time.

When you hold it at normal book-scanning distance — say, 8 to 12 inches from your eyes — it isn't long before the back-lit screen delivers the sensation that you're staring into a car headlight, even with the brightness turned down.

The iPad doesn't have the resolution to display print fonts with comfortable crispness at close distances, and it's too heavy to hold without propping it up.  The iPad is certainly dazzling on first encounter, but its heart isn't in giving you something to read.

The new color Nook, which I tested at my local Barnes & Noble, has a similar screen and the same shortcomings.  That may be why the store takes pains to promote its suitability for children's books, in which color images play a bigger role than the printed word.  Still, if you must read in color, the Nook is a cheaper, lighter, smaller device than the iPad, though lacking the big guy's vast array of digital applications.

The Kindle  [UK: K3], by contrast, has been optimized as a reading device. The letters seem to sit on top of its matte black-and-white E Ink display, reducing eyestrain, their outlines razor-sharp.  One good thing about the Kindle is it's distraction-free — there is a Web browser, but luckily it's almost useless... '

UPDATE - 12/2/10 Original posting 11/30/10
* Melinda Varian, a knowledgeable regular at the Amazon Kindle forums, wrote to advise me that the $0.00 book I referenced for War & Peace by the recommended translators was not the right one; Amazon had assigned to it all the reviews from the correct paper copy and linked to it from the right hardcover page, but it's a different translation.  Melinda has both Kindle editions and verified this. (Many thanks to her.) Unfortunately, the price of the correct one is $7.09 rather than $0, but it sounds worth it for those tackling this book.
End of Update

He goes on to acknowledge problems with typos, odd hyphenations, the large but inconsistent selection of e-books... with examples given.  Is optimistic about the critical mass of e-readers as bringing improvements and with room made for multiple formats, and he likes the idea of the enhanced e-books with "useful add-ons such as video and animation.  E Ink displays will get even sharper, and eventually acquire color."

Michael Hiltzik's column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Reach him at mhiltzik@latimes.com, read past columns at latimes.com/hiltzik, check out facebook.com/hiltzik and follow @latimeshiltzik on Twitter.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

That Amazon Android Tablet May be a Reality - UPDATE

THAT KINDLE ANDROID TABLET MAY WELL BE A REALITY  (See Update)
  In a column I overlooked yesterday because the title wasn't designed to grab you by the throat, Computerworld's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka cybercinic, writes that "The forthcoming Nook Color and the rumored Amazon Kindle Tablet will bring good Linux-powered tablets to users this year after all."   Then he adds:

' "Sources at Amazon tell me that the company will indeed produce a mass-market Android tablet.  I can't tell you its size, pricing, when it's expected to ship, or anything else of substance.  The one thing I do know is that, like the Kindle, it will run Linux with a Java-based interface.  In short, this new tablet Kindle, let's call it "KinTablet," will run Android. '

This is a follow-up to the Tablet story a couple of days ago.

  The Amazon "Welcome Packet" to prospective apps store developers, described in Engadget's story by Chris Ziegler, contains wording that indicates to Vaughan-Nichols that what he calls a "KinTablet" may be ready in time for the holiday season. [It wasn't.]  That would surprise me, but it may be that they've worked on this intensely for some time already.  He even bets that it will be announced on the day B&N is set to launch their NookColor or the day after.

  Part of that Welcome Packet story by Engadget: "Developer-submitted videos will be supported in the app product pages, which is kind of nice -- neither the Android Market nor the iOS App Store support that."  They felt that the apps store would be "ready in time for the holidays" but where does the item "developer-submitted videos will be supported" fit with a Kindle reader? Would that be like the Enhanced Kindle books that only Apple products are able to use?

  And there was the Kindle World story here in January, 10 months ago, citing Clayton Morris' quote of a reply from a Qualcomm spokesman:

' When pressed about who its partner might be in 2010, a company spokesman asked me, "You know that device that everyone reads books on?  Well, it's going to be a game changer on a device we all know." '

  Now that's a way to halt e-reader buying for 2 weeks, isn't it.  With two online 'zines suggesting strongly that Amazon is about to release an Android tablet and this particular columnist at Computerworld citing sources at Amazon confirming a "mass-market Android tablet," it now looks as if Amazon is actually leaking the news.

  Is it to staunch the flow of orders going Barnes and Noble's way?  And even if it is, would they even talk about it to Computerworld if there wasn't a good deal of truth to it?  Is it about timing? Effect? NO hint of what kind of screen.  Did they ask the sources? Is there a reason nothing's being said about that rather important 'area' ?

  He feels that this would be a more expensive model, as the LCD NookColor is, and was a reason that the pricing for the Kindle 3 was dropped.  And what's happening with the Kindle DX Graphite? Why hasn't the software to it been upgraded to match the Kindle 3's since they are sharing the same higher-contrast and faster screen technology?

  The Computerworld story is written by someone who feels he knew "dedicated e-readers would die off" so there is also a whiff of wishful dynamics going on here too.  First, this means he doesn't value, himself, a dedicated e-reader, and while people like me might look forward to a GOOD e-reader tablet, in no way would I want to give up my *primary* dedicated e-book reading device.

  There are too many columnists who don't understand that and are puzzled by the extreme interest in these small, portable, HIGHLY-readable devices (something I think of everytime I pick up my Kindle 3 or DXG).

  In his previous column, in June, he felt that interest in e-readers would die off in a year because a dedicated e-reader cannot compete with an iPad. That's been shown to be nonsense.  That he doesn't even mention the differing screen technologies in EITHER column makes me wonder about his perspective and his interpretation of what was said to him.

  There is a flood of buyers for dedicated e-readers at their currently decent pricing, WHILE the iPad is doing well, and he is at a loss to explain it, seeing NO reason whatsoever for that.  Here are his stated reasons, which show his blindness to the attraction of paper-like screens:

' Everything a Nook or a Kindle can do an Apple iPad can do better.  And, what's far more important, an iPad can do far, far more.

Why should I buy a Nook or Kindle to read a book, when I can read the same books, from the same vendors, on an iPad?  Or, for that matter, an iPod Touch?  As Jason Perlow pointed out in his great overview of iPad e-reader applications, anything you can read on one of those devices, you can read on an iPad. '

  He probably never goes outdoor with his 'reader' and his eyes are probably never in need of adjustment when reading whole books on an LCD device.  Therefore the rest of the world couldn't possibly value e-paper type screens.

  Of course, everyone would prefer to spend that kind of money for screens that do irritate the eyes of many who like to read novels.  I'm not talking about surfing the web (see my story yesterday on that), since I can surf the web for an entire day without eye-difficulty, as it presents eye-relief in many ways that reading a book on an LCD screen does not do for me and for many others.
  And I guess some do believe that everyone would prefer to play bird-games or surf the web on their reader.

  The e-reader world is a niche area -- most books are still bought (heavily so) by those choosing e-Ink readers because that's their 'focus.'

  He wrote, in June, before the recent explosion of e-reader and e-book buying, that dedicated readers ... "They're history."

  For months, other columnists have been baffled by the popularity of the dedicated devices and discovered that the iPad and dedicated e-readers seem to be complementary rather than one 'killing' interest in the other.

  He views the idea of a supplementary device filling the needs of another target audience (one that wouldn't want a B&W reader (and only about 10% of households make up the avid reader population, per Bezos) or who would like a *secondary* reader for magazines, travel books, children's books) and it matches his core belief that others are like he is, wholly disinterested in reading in eye-soothing e-Ink (he doesn't mention the technology at all which is really bizarre, since most columnists now acknowledge its attractions).

  So, while I think the rumor is being dropped by Amazon intentionally, I also am sure he is misinterpreting the long-term meaning of it. Where he and I meet is if e-readers are built with screens that are usable for fast video AND for eye-pleasing e-paper (as Mirasol is), only then would people who love the new Pearl screen technology (and I am not exaggerating how much e-reader owners "love" these screens as shown in all kinds of general forums these days) move toward a tablet.

 It would have to be as light, portable, and *clear* -- not anything like the iPad is when it comes to reading of entire books. I know too many people who have given up reading on the iPad and gone (or returned) to dedicated e-Ink readers, and we've also seen the tremendous interest currently in dedicated e-readers during the height of interest in the iPad.

I was intrigued a couple of months ago that an E Ink, Inc. demo of its newer technology involving color discussed the need for making higher-contrast screens because whatever is needed to produce color e-Ink will *decrease* screen contrast.  Now that I'm used to the Kindle 3 and the DX Graphite, I find it harder to use my older Kindle 2 U.S., which just looks very light, though it beats any laptop LCD screen or trying to read a book (not surf) on an iPad in daylight for any length of time.

  I don't think the answer will include E-Ink color; it'd still be too slow.  It would have to be something like Qualcomm Mirasol, Pixel Qi's dual screen capability, or one of the other emerging color screen technologies.

Interesting times.

UPDATE at 9:48 AM (Original posting was 7:36 AM )
Commenter and NookColor enthusiast Peter delighted in the Qualcomm earnings call this morning that verified Mirasol won't be ready until next year. I replied:

' I'm reporting a bubble blown by someone who hopes for the death of
dedicated e-readers, and I didn't express huge interest in the tablet
itself, only in the dynamics of possible leaking and what it might mean.

In both columns (one saying Mirasol wouldn't be ready in time), I give
other possibilities, and the downside for many of us would be if they
chose LCD but there IS a market for that... '

Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

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Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.

CNet: LCD vs. e-ink: The eyestrain debate. Thoughts on the NookColor. PCW Top 5 Tech

CNet's David Carnoy weighed in on the debate over whether or not e-book reading on LCD screen causes more eyestrain than when reading on an e-Ink screen.  For him, it doesn't matter, but he apparently understands that for other humans it can be a problem though he prefers to think that it's not due to the LCD screen that others have a problem.

  In my own case -- with a focus only on words one after another against a background that puts light right into my eyes, there's quite a difference.

  I (and others report the same) can read a book on e-ink for hours but on my LCD screen, which I DIM -- and it has a reputation for being an excellent screen) -- I can read an e-book for no more than 20 minutes.  I then need to squint my eyes to continue, no matter how far down I dim that light.  I also use a lamp to help my eyes adjust to the light difference between the light source (LCD) and surroundings, and that helps me read books for about half an hour.  I do it only because I like to see some of the color illustrations on my Kindle 4 PC.

  Yet, I can surf the web on a computer of any type for 10+ hours a day without a problem because in surfing the web your eyes are looking all over the place and get to relax from one short-term position of focus, with images and other stories to catch your eye (as with a paper newspaper).  That's why it's called surfing ... or browsing.  It's not a heavy focus on just one plain-text word after another, contained, with not much movement of the eyes for relaxation and then, with that more intense form of light (vs reflected light from e-ink screens) coming into your eyes, it has more effect on some of us.

Carnoy gets a quote from Barnes and Noble's CEO, William Lynch, that B&N did "extensive research on displays" and "discovered" that "eyestrain with LCDs was not the huge issue many people were making it out to be." He added that B&N is using a "high-resolution next-generation panel from LG" that is backlit with LED.

 Carnoy then asks his optometrist for his take on this and reports that the doc doesn't feel there's that much to the eyestrain idea.  It doesn't matter, he feels, if a light is shining into your eyes when you are doing serial reading (words in a string) for long-form sessions as opposed to short magazine reading or surfing the web.  He doesn't believe today's LCD screens cause any eyestrain for anyone but that it's just a matter of "aesthetics" whether they prefer an LCD screen or an e-Ink one for reading.

In the comments section for the article, some point to differing light-sensitivity that people have.  One would think that was common (and good) sense.

But the most interesting Comment of all to that article was one which I'll put here, as his explanations for perceived or reported LCD eyestrain comes from someone who has studied this at length and of course has reasons for his most definite bias, as he is a co-founder of e-Ink:

' Hi David,

While LCDs are adequate for reading, E Ink was invented and engineered for the best possible reading experience. Your readers might like to hear about a few technical factors that are not well known and contribute to the difference:

1. Ambient brightness
Over the years many people have told me that reading an emissive display is bothersome to them while E Ink is not.

I think one reason is that as you read, your eyes skip along the lines of text, dwelling for a fraction of a second on small groups of words. Your eyes are constantly moving ? hundreds of times per minute. So it is very important that your eyes be able to refocus on the surface of a screen within a split-second.

Emissive displays are ill-suited for this. While you are reading a book, you see a lot more than the screen. Your field of vision is wider than the page alone and your eyes often glance off the page. With a backlit screen, every time your eye switches from a bright screen to the dimmer ambient room, your eye muscles must make an adjustment. And the more adjustments, the more chance for eyestrain.

With paper or E Ink, the page is the same brightness as everything else in the room. Your eye needs less adjustment effort to go back and forth. You can see and understand information more immediately. Paper is the ultimate "glanceable" display and that helps improve comprehension and maximize reading speed.

2. No parallax / closer to the eye

Have you ever gazed at a calculator display and noticed a bit of a shadow? That is parallax. The same thing happens on your emissive LCD. The white color is actually coming from a backlight behind the LCD; the black color is coming from a shadow cast by the liquid crystal material in the middle of the LCD glass sandwich. So black and white are different distances from your eye. This degree of shadowing changes with the viewing angle. There are also two sheets of glass and multiple polarizer films between your eye and the white background, which creates a slight feeling of separation between screen and real world.

In an E Ink display, the electronic ink contains black and white particles that are both moved physically by electrophoresis to the front of the display. So both black and white are exactly the same distance from your eye. Furthermore, both are at the front pressed up to the top layer of glass. This greatly contributes to the feeling that the information is printed on the top of a page.

3. Less glare

All E Ink display surfaces are treated to be matte like a printed page. Most LCDs are not. This is not an obvious feature when you buy the product, but it makes a huge difference to legibility in some settings.

4. Same contrast across the entire page

Although modern LCDs have greatly improved their viewing angle uniformity, there is still a detectable difference in contrast ratio across the page. These differences in contrast make it just a tiny bit harder to resolve images as your eye skips along the page. As the screen gets larger or closer to your eyes, as with a handheld book, this angular difference is increased.

5. No aperture ratio loss

The pixels on LCD screens do not have a full aperture ratio, because each pixel must be separated by a black border. The border hides the underlying transistor and separates the areas of the color filter. There are actually 3 sets of borders per pixel, since color LCDs have RGB subpixels. This all adds up to tiny black gaps between each pixel. As LCDs reach higher resolutions there are even more dead gaps as a percentage of viewing area.

E Ink screens have a 100% aperture ratio. There is no black mask and no black border between pixels. When two neighboring pixels are white on an E Ink screen, the pixels merge to form a solid block of white. Therefore the blacks and whites on an E Ink screen are uniform, again improving image quality.

Russ Wilcox, co-founder E Ink <-- absolutely biased in favor of E Ink! =) '

This is all a concern as some of us are considering, as a SECONDARY e-reader, the coming NookColor, for color magazine reading or for photography and travel books.   Also of interest is the ePub (but not its proprietary form of Adobe DRM) and library capabilities *IF* the new Nook functions better than the eInk Nook does (and certainly better than it did in its first buggy half year) as I find its menu system and processes have too many steps, it's too slow to respond (when you're used to the Kindle  (UK: K3)), and the Nook's search and annotations systems are quite poor.
  But also of interest is that it will view though not edit Microsoft Office documents.

  Searches can function as 'flipping' through a book in search of something and that's important to me, as is the dictionary function being right on the front screen as it is for both the Kindles and the new Sony e-readers.  Annotations should be FINDABLE rather than depending on your ever reaching those pages again (a drawback of the current Nook).

  However, the new Nook software update coming may help. Oddly, Engadget's look at the NookColor the other day left them feeling the NookColor has to be sped up, even though it's not an eInk device.  B&N has another two weeks to get it ready for reporters to touch (they wouldn't let Engadget operate it).

As of now, I'm also looking at the fact that the NookColor is almost one pound (15.8 ounces) and gives "up to" 8 hours on a battery charge, and it takes 3 hours to do a full charge.

 Those are drawbacks to it being a primary portable e-reader, but the color will entice, even if it is an LCD screen and we now know what an LCD screen is like, for book-reading outside where the sun shines.  There should be a good market for it though, from people who won't need to use it outdoors and who want color above all else and have not bought an e-reader because of the lack of color.  I imagine that's a large potential market.

I'll be writing more about the NookColor, but I would personally not, at this point get a color LCD screen device as my primary ebook reader but am considering the new Nook as a supplemental e-reader and also because I'm a long-time B&N member and want them to survive, as they're not in the best financial shape currently but should certainly make it through fine if they do things right with the Nook.
  It's important to me that their bookstore in my neighborhood, which I like to visit, stays, when the 3 others in this area gave up the ghost this past year.

  The IPad has a great screen but is decidedly not pleasant for me to try to read a book on although some others can do it (the Nook will add an anti-glare coating and it'll be interesting to see how effective that is), but the market shows clearly that the Kindle's eInk screen is a huge attraction for avid book readers and many of us are reading and buying books much more than we used to because it is so strangely pleasing to read on an e-Ink screen and with the Kindle's features and functioning.

  That's a good reason for B&N to keep the E-Ink model, as the new model does not 'replace' that but is an addition to the line. The new model will not offer 3G access and will depend on WiFi networks in the home or available nearby.

PC World's TOP 5 Tech Products of the year (out of 100 chosen)
PC World's Cody Hahn reports on their pick of the top 100 best technology products for 2010.
  The surprise for many in this was that "Google Android 2.2" is number one rather than the Apple iPad.  They also list their Top 5 tech products and services:

  . Google Android 2.2
  . Apple iPad
  . Amazon Kindle (third generation)
  . Netflix
  . Samsung Galaxy Tab (7" tablet with flash and 2 cameras)

No surprise that the Kindle 3 is in the bunch.


Kindle 3's   (UK: Kindle 3's),   DX Graphite

---

Check often: Temporarily-free late-listed non-classics or recently published ones
  Guide to finding Free Kindle books and Sources.  Top 100 free bestsellers.
UK-Only: recently published non-classics, bestsellers, or highest-rated ones
    Also, UK customers should see the UK store's Top 100 free bestsellers.