Kindle Review – Kindle Fire Review, Kindle 4 Review

Preparing for a comprehensive Nook review by reading books on the Nook and the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Barnes & Noble’s Nook keeps rearing its twin heads.

Dr. Nook – the Nook stakes its claim as a top 2 eReader

There are times when the Nook shines as bright as the sun lazing over a spring meadow -

1. The screen contrast is great – aided by the black border, a whiter than usual screen, and bolded font. It’s not as crystal sharp as the Sony Pocket but it outpaces the Kindle and the Sony Reader. 
2. Let the LCD switch itself off and then the eInk screen just fades into the background. 
3. The sharing, while not actually full sharing, does allow you to share with one friend.
4. B&N’s eReader for iPhone has auto-scrolling to save your tired fingers page turn swipes.
5. B&N has begun to match the Kindle’s low prices for a decent number of books.
6. An update has already come out and it’s removed the painful ‘intermediate screen’ when you try to open a book. It’s also stopped formatting a book every single time you open it.  
7. B&N has matched one of the Kindle’s main advantages with wireless downloads and wireless browsing of B&N’s eBooks store.
8. eReader for PC is an easy to use application and it almost makes reading on a PC screen fun.

There really were moments, especially when the LCD touchscreen was turned off, that the Nook was brilliant.

Yet, the Nook switches effortlessly between these moments of brilliance and moments that make you want to smash it, or your head, against a wall.

Mr. B&N – Barnes & Noble supplies the Nook’s dark side

Barnes & Noble, in their rush to get something out for Christmas, have sent out the Nook unpolished and unsupported -

1. Both downloads of The Road had missing pages. eReader for PC is excellent – However, would prefer to read the entire book on the Nook and not have to switch between it and the PC. 
2. Yesterday was Christmas and the traffic froze B&N’s servers. Waiting 15 minutes for your instant download (this was via PC) was rather annoying.  
3. Page Turns are painful – It’s not an eInk thing because both the Kindle and the Sony Reader are twice as fast.  
4. The LCD touchscreen works best when it’s dark - Pretty sure that’s not what the intention was.
5. Nook isn’t as slow as reviewers claim (and to be fair, some videos show) - However, it is a bit sluggish at everything. Changing the font is slow, searching is slow, the dictionary is really slow – After a point it starts detracting from the reading. 
6. eReader for iPhone crashes at the drop of a hat. It took 5 tries to get The Road downloaded. This is a common complaint at the Nook forum too. 
7. Everything that was promised has fine print. It’d be nice if B&N were upfront from the start.  

B&N have messed up the software implementation and look to have messed up the service infrastructure too – B&N really is the Mr. Hyde to the Nook’s Dr. Jekyll. 

Not necessarily an evil Mr. Hyde – just a thoroughly incompetent and constantly annoying version.

You’re enjoying your time with the Nook and Mr. B&N keeps showing up to spoil the party -

Really enjoying the book – Oops! we forget some pages – What a beautiful screen – wait a second while we turn the page – What nice fonts -  please wait 3 seconds while we change fonts – A book I like – sorry, our servers are down - Look the iPhone app has auto-scroll - guess who just crashed.  

If you decide on the Nook it might be best to wait

The Nook itself is stellar. Nearly all the problems are software and service problems B&N has created for itself - dual screens aren’t used well, downloads don’t work well, software implementation is shoddy.

At this point, B&N need to worry more about their own mistakes than the threat from Amazon.

They have released a software update this week that fixes some issues. However, there are still enough issues left to make Walt Mossberg’s advice valid – If you do decide on a Nook it might be best to wait.

The Nook’s 2 seasons 

Early on, the Press anointed the Nook the chosen one -

1. They spent October and November crowing about how magnificent it would be – sweeping aside its enemies like Genghis Khan.
2. Color, Lending, In-Store browsing – every feature was a kindle killer - No questions asked.
3. The promise of openness and ePub and Android drove tech bloggers into a frenzy.

Then December rolled around and the Press, for some unfathomable reason, did a complete u-turn -

1. David Pogue felt compelled to shoot videos making fun of the Nook. 
2. Walt Mossberg felt it couldn’t yet challenge the Kindle and recommended that if you want the Nook you should wait. 
3. Even the tech blogs and the main stream press have forsaken the Nook.

Has the once beautiful Nook really changed so much?

Not really.

Nook is just the victim of unrealistic expectations

There’s this quiet sense of desperation that runs through the press and the blogs when a company utterly dominates -

1. You see it when Microsoft is mentioned. 
2. The Apple iPhone has begun to give rise to it.  
3. Even the benevolent companies begin to trigger it if they do too well.

It’s that same sense of desperation that motivated the great expectations for the Nook – Finally, something to free the true believers from the unstoppable progress of the Kindle.

The only problem is that those great expectations were completely unrealistic – eInk is an evolving technology, it’s the first version of the Nook, and B&N are new to manufacturing.

It was perfectly natural that the Nook failed to climb this Mt. Everest of expectations and it was a natural progression that the disappointed Press would turn against their great hope.

Nook wasn’t perfect, and so the Press turned on it

How is it that a device that was getting 10s is suddenly getting 6s?

Search for ‘Nook Review’ on Google and consider the twin headlines from Huffington Post -

1. Nook Review: Barnes & Noble eReader is a MESS. 
2. Nook Review: 8 Reasons you can finally love eBook readers.

If the second headline has been proven wrong, then perhaps the first headline will prove to be wrong too.

The Nook is neither a 10, nor a 6.

The truth is probably that the Nook was an 8 and it still is an 8. 

Much as the Press were unrealistic and giving it 10s before they had even touched it, they are now recoiling at the first hint of sluggishness and being overly harsh.

Where does that leave the Nook?

We’re left with a very decent eReader that has a lot of promise and yet is facing the wrath of the Press.

The Nook now knows what the Kindle feels like.

To be unfairly cursed and mocked and have little flaws magnified and to be held up to unrealistic standards. The Nook is in the exact same position the Kindle has been in for much of its existence.

Which makes you wonder if there’ll ever be a dedicated eBook Reader that the Press doesn’t crucify.

Filed under: Barnes Noble Nook Tagged: | nook ereader, nook review