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E-readers suddenly become popular items. But how good are the latest models?
HOT READS
BY ALAN COHEN ; ;
JUST IN THE PAST YEAR, E;BOOK READERS HAVE EMERGED as one
of the hottest categories in consumer electronics. That’s
impressive when you consider that for a long time, they
were one of the sorriest. An electronic device used solely
to display books isn’t a new concept; companies like RCA
were making them a decade ago. The difference now is that
people are actually buying them. For that you can thank
better screens, improved battery life, and—probably most
of all—onboard wireless capabilities that make it a snap to
buy books on the ;y. Sony Corporation and Amazon.com,
Inc., established themselves as the market leaders. But you
know what happens when a market ;nally heats up. Everyone wants in.
That “everyone” includes a lot of small players you probably never heard of: IREX Technologies, B.V., Plastic Logic
BARNES & NOBLE NOOK
LET’S GET ONE THING OUT OF THE WAY:
If you’ve got a case of Kindle remorse, having bought your
Kindle two days before the Nook’s announcement, it’s time to
feel good about yourself again. For after using the Nook for a
couple of weeks, it’s safe to say that it’s the e-reader version of
a certain professional golfer: oh-so-talented, oh-so-;awed.
There’s a lot of good stuff.
The $259 Nook, which looks
like a slightly bulkier Kindle,
supports multiple e-book
formats, including ePub—
used by Google Books for its
million-plus free titles. It sup-
ports PDF ;les (sidenote: If
you plan to use these devices
primarily to read PDFs, plan
to buy another type of prod-
uct; at best, e-book readers
are merely serviceable as
PDF viewers). There’s free
cellular wireless access to
Barnes & Noble’s e-book
store, so you can buy titles
on impulse without lugging
along a PC. There’s built-
in WiFi, which will let you
walk into a brick-and-mortar
Barnes & Noble and try out
any e-book title for an hour.
You can lend titles you buy to
friends for 14 days (just like
a real book, you won’t have
access to your copy while it’s
on loan; though, unlike with
traditional lending, you’ll
always get it back).
problem. The Nook, however, didn’t seem to get that
update. Use it for ;ve minutes, and all its nice touches
are quickly forgotten. All you
think about is the speed—or
lack thereof. Turn a page,
and wait. Change a font size,
and wait. Navigate menu
choices, and wait. Hopefully,
Barnes & Noble will speed
things up with a firmware
update. For this is a major,
glaring problem.
