JCC Kindle vs. Nook (vs. Other?)

I prefer books the most...but in History grad seminars, and the ungodly amount of reading we have to do, my Nook comes in handy. If I like the books enough or think I can use it in the future, I'll go ahead and buy a paper copy.

I have a classic Nook, and my only real complaint is the sluggishness of the touch screen, and the fact that its in black and white. Eventually im going to get a Nook Color.


EDIT -- To answer Valyn's question...
There is no glare with the classic nook; as the only LCD screen is the smaller touchscreen menu, but that shuts off after a few minutes of inactivity. The main screen itself looks almost like a piece of newspaper placed behind plexiglass.
[image=http://www.ces-show.com/news_images/00445_nook-ebook-reader.jpg]

 

That's one situation where I think a Nook or Kindle makes sense. I remember hauling textbooks around at college and in that situation if I could put some of the reading matter (especially classics for a Lit class) on a Nook or Kindle I'd do it. I'd also be more inclined to use one if I traveled a lot so I wouldn't have to haul books around in luggage.

 

They have book scented perfume if you are buying books for smell. I have a Kindle and I enjoy it quite a bit. I like the e-ink and I get my books the same way I get new movies, tv shows, and music.

 

I'm in the same boat as Aytee-Aytee, but with one small difference. Since I'm in a mathematical field I end reading a lot of PDF's with equations, tables, and graphs. Does anyone have any experiance reading things like that on an ereader?

 

I have the Kindle app on my iPod Touch but I rarely use it. I also have iBooks but haven't used it yet. I'm surprised there is such a difference between the UK and the US though.

Someone mentioned textbooks; I put five of my six textbooks on my Kindle this semester. The sixth one was not available in a Kindle edition. They're half the price of regular textbooks and take up much less space on my shelves.

 

For me its really just more that I have a really hard time reading something on a screen. I'm a very fast reader, and I turn pages very quickly and I'm always flipping back to cross reference things because I'm usually doing a very in-depth read. And then there's difficulty with marking things up. And I think there's an argument to be made for the tactile experience of reading a book engaging you more actively in the story than passively looking at a digital read-out. Also, if I'm going on a trip that's long enough that I might finish the book I'm currently reading, I simply throw another one or two in my bag. But then again like 90% of the storage space in my room is taken up with books that I'm working through, so its been a while since I've run up against the need to buy something new because I've finished the book I"m currently on.

 

40 minutes?! What were you buying?

I agree with Dilb about the marking up. Apparently the Sony's touchscreen lets you scribble directly on to the screen and preserves that, which will beat a mere highlighting feature hands down every day. In law school being able to write a few words in the margin or accentuate words in different ways (underline, circle, square, highlight) was priceless when I was on call. Highlighting is pretty worthless if you can't remember what you were thinking when you highlighted something.

 

Paper books are quaint. Ebooks will greatly increase the amount of reading done, just as we are listening to more music now that ever.

Go type up your notes on your typewriters by the light of your gas lamp while you listen to vinyl while you spend so much time smelling your book.

Personally I've always hated the awkward turning of pages while I lay down. A backpack full of books was never something I liked. Paper books will be relegated to a niche market. There is no use fighting it. I think libraries as we know them must change or be reduced to irrelevancy. You can't fight the future.

 

I have a Kindle, and it's pretty fast down-loading, plus I like the keys instead of the touch screen. Charge lasts forever, too.

 

So she got me a nook color and I'm currently posting from it. It is pretty awesome. Rapid transfers and downloads, awesome features. Plus I love how you can download samples of books.

Now someone recommend me a good scifi/fantasy novel

 

Search for books 'Science Fiction 0.00'
Free books.
Quality?

 

I've been checking out books from the library lately, just to enjoy it while I still can.

 

I should check out the b&n lending feature

 

OK, library science student here...

The library science field is well aware of the e-book market and has plans to adjust itself. There are several issues at the moment--licensing agreements with e-book publishers, compatibility with different e-readers. But many public libraries already lend e-books. The e-books lend to an e-reader for the prescribed period (three weeks at my local public library) then "disappear" off the e-reader.

My best/worst case scenario projection is that libraries will go entirely online. Patrons will log onto their computers, punch in their card numbers and download e-books to borrow, go into instant messenger for reference services (that's already available in many libraries), access reference databases (again, already available), take workshops, and view children's story times on video. Libraries themselves might go completely virtual but they aren't disappearing. And I think we're a good few decades away from going completely virtual, although technology does tend to update itself faster than I anticipate most of the time.

Just my $.02.

 

Barnes and Noble lends books too via its online shop to the Nook.

As for a scifi/fantasy novel, I am deciding between Blade of Tyshalle or In the Name of the Wind. Both seem to receive some pretty encouraging reviews. And amazon.com is presently selling brand new physical copy of Blade of Tyshalle for $100, whereas the ebook version is $6.

Quite the price difference, eh?

 

iPad.

 

I read on cnet that the nook color trumps the ipad in a few areas, including ereader ability.

 

Is story time going to go online too?

 

i understand the use of an e-reader and such, but there's really just something about having a solid book in your hands while you're reading it. i have a ton of stuff to read on my computer... but don't because it's on a screen. just don't like that for whatever reason.

 

There are actually huge discussions about this in the field. I had to write a paper for my foundations class in which I took the stance of either "the library as a physical place" or "the library as a set of services" regarding which was more important. I took the latter stance, but one of the arguments for the former is children's story times. They are much better done in person than on YouTube IMO. There are also various services for adults that are better in person, such as book groups.

Just a couple of the reasons why I believe that it will be a very long time before libraries go completely virtual, if they do so at all. I do think the number of in-person services as well as physical books will be reduced though.

 

I love my kindle, and there's a lot to love about. To start with, amazon has a whole load of free classics available for instant download. I downloaded a large number of books within minutes. There are a lot of books on amazon that are available for the kindle, though it's not always cheaper to buy them in kindle format. Another thing I like is the buttons. Easy to use and my thumb doesn't cover any part of the screen when I press them. The screen is just fantastic too. I have problems reading a large amount of text on a computer screen due to monitors being illuminated and the general brightness of the screen. However, the kindle screen is crystal clear, razor sharp, and not backlit at all. It's very easy to read and I can spend hours reading with it and not have any problems at all. I don't have the 3G version as I don't need 3G capabilities, but the wi-fi version is just great. Even if you have some ebooks, as long as they're compatible, they can been transferred via the USB cable that comes with the kindle.

So yeah, my advice would be to get a kindle. There are other ebook readers out there but I wouldn't touch one with a colour screen (or any other backlit screen). Even if you're fine with reading backlit screens they tend to drain the power a lot and you get a few hours of reading with one compared to a few weeks with a kindle.

 

I'm reading Blade of Tyshalle right now [a physical copy ] & it's a total mind****. I felt like it started off slowly but once things got moving, I haven't been able to put it down.

As for the whole physical versus electronic thing, I'm with dilb. I have a difficult time reading longer pieces on a screen & I just seem to do much better with actual printed pages. Even when I was doing all of my research in college, I'd print out all of my sources rather than just reading them/marking them up online. Now, the screen on the Nook is different from a computer screen & it doesn't seem to bother my eyes as much, but I'd still pick an actual book over an e-book.