Corporate Counsel - March 2010 (Sample Issue)

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There are smaller, but still signi;cant, issues that plague the Nook. There’s WiFi but no Web browser, so forget about sur;ng the Web. And unlike the Sony Reader and the Kindle, there is no text-size button, so you have to navigate menus to change font sizes. That’s awkward and unnecessary.

All told, the Nook is a promising product, but it’s not there yet, and our reluctant conclusion is that you should hold off on a purchase, at least until Barnes & Noble takes a stab at correcting some of the Nook’s problems. A bigger reason to hold off is that both Amazon and Sony—who have a lot more experience at this—are really nailing e-book readers with their latest updates.

SONY READER POCKET EDITION Sony, too, has been making nice strides. Its lowest-cost unit, the $200 Reader Pocket Edition (with a 5-inch screen instead of the traditional 6-incher), has the best screen of the bunch, stunningly sharp with great contrast (while good, text on both the Nook and Kindle doesn’t quite “pop” as much).

By embracing the ePub format, the Reader makes it easy to down-load Google Books and other public

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AMAZON’S KINDLE 2 ;$259; now o;ers international access, so you can make impulse buys in several dozen countries. Its online store is excellent; while all three vendors o;er best sellers for $9.99, Amazon is much more likely to extend that price to a less popular title.

Better yet is the way Amazon integrates your purchases with multiple devices. With plug-ins for your PC (Mac coming soon) and iPhone, all synced with your Kindle account, you

can read a few pages on your phone, and then pick up where you left off on your phone or computer. Slick. On the downside, Kindle remains a rather closed platform. While there are applications to help you get non-Kindle titles onto your device, it’s more work than it should be.

domain titles. And you can even “check out” e-titles from your public library (assuming your branch participates in the e-book lending program). Keep in mind, though, that the Pocket Edition has no wireless link, so you’ll still have to buy your books on your computer (Windows or Mac) and transfer them via USB.

Of course, things are constantly evolving in the world of e-readers, and just as we were going to press, a new model was readying for the marketplace: the $399 (please, rethink) Sony Reader Daily Edition, which will offer a 7-inch screen and built-in cellular wireless. We’re curious, too, to see how Apple’s iPad works, and how its e-book capabilities compare with the dedicated readers reviewed here. To be sure, it’s only ;tting that Apple joins in. For that’s the true sign of a hot market—when your 800-pound gorilla is followed by a 1,600-pound one.