Nook e-Book Reader from B&N
I’m no authority on the Kindle, and have yet to see the Barnes & Noble’s supposed Kindle-killer, their “Nook e-book reader”. However, I am amazed at the naming of the Nook. (Try saying the full name quickly to yourself.) Didn’t their marketing people attend the class about product naming disasters? And I don’t know about you, but that “e-” prefix is looking pretty dated and last century to me.
In any case I’m not in the market for a book reader device. When I buy a book I do so because I want to own that book. The Kindle and the Nook both use DRM (Digital Rights Management) which means I wouldn’t really own any book I bought through those devices. Amazon has amply demonstrated the problems with DRM.
I recognize that ownership needs to evolve in the world of perfectly copyable bits. But DRM shifts the balance of ownership rights massively to the publisher with no consideration to the purchaser’s side of the equation. The original author is also being shafted by the publisher. Digital books often have lower royalties to the author than do printed works. DRM isn’t the right answer, so neither are the Kindle and Nook.