By all accounts, especially in the Wired Magazine piece, the new $140 Nook once again takes the lead in the ereader wars. It’s smaller, lighter, user-friendly (with a touch screen), social-media ready, and accesses Barnes and Noble’s larger ebook repository which, at two million titles, is twice the size of Amazon’s.

Wired’s John Abell goes on to declare:

The Nook is the first mechanism that has called me to read books for fun in ages. Software apps for e-reading are convenient, but they run on devices which are either too small (a smartphone) or too cumbersome and heavy (a tablet). This particular reader just feels better in the hand than others I have tried.

As most of you know, I’m a Kindle lover. I still use the same Kindle that I purchased in 2006, and although the basic E-ink technology hasn’t changed over the years, the battery life, navigation speed, and user interface of these devices have vastly improved. I’ve often considered upgrading to a new ereader, but even my old 1st generation Kindle performs its purpose well enough for me. That being said, if I was to upgrade I’d still go the Kindle/Amazon route. Why? Part of it is because I’m a long-term Amazon customer, and they seem to know more about me than I know about myself. The second reason is, well, that I’m not sure how long Barnes and Noble will be with us–they’re a struggling brick and mortar retailer in a digital world. Sure, they’re really hitting hard in the digital ebook market, but they’re carrying a tremendous amount of physical bookstore “baggage” that Amazon doesn’t have to contend with. With B&N, I’m not sure where they’re going and whether they’ll get there.

Paul Oliver at Melville Publishing echos my concerns-

Barnes & Noble looks like a company in retreat. Floor space in their brick & mortar castles is being devoted more and more to boardgames, Legos and the like. While Amazon increasingly looks like it wants to be your one-stop shop for all things book (as in they want to publish, distribute and sell all books – a thing we used to have laws against), B&N increasingly looks like a middle-aged guy going through a midlife crisis. Because of this the nook to consumers then looks like a bright red convertible. Sure it’s nice, but the guy driving it has no idea what he wants in life.

So what do you think? Is the Nook an easy buy for you? Let me know here or via my Facebook page, and till next time–keep publishing!

Henry Hutton
PublishandSell.com
hhutton@publishandsell.com
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