The real killer feature is this: "Share favorite eBooks with your friends, family, or book club. Most eBooks can be lent for up to 14 days at a time. Just choose the book you want to share, then send it to your friend's reader, cell phone, or computer."
Oof. I haven't seen any definitive confirmation on one-lend-ever-per-title (they seem cagey about it), but looking at this purely economically:
This is by some measure a winning strategy, since if I only have one "lend", I will very likely want to share it to the person most likely to buy it and create an additional "lend" to propagate the book.
It does seem like they are missing out on the power of inter-consumer advocacy, i.e. "Everybody read this now!" They should at least re-credit you (if not several times over) if you share with someone who later buys the book.
It may give the illusion of a good strategy, but limitless invites will spread the book faster leading to more buys overall (in my opinion). Since many people like to own books they've enjoyed and the freedom this model gives also pleases consumers I'd prefer it.
Agreed, this is an aspect that would have always prevented me from ever paying for an ebook. As an avid reader I frequently give books to someone else to read, and handing over a $100+ eBook reader is an absurd prospect for loaning a book to someone.
eInk keeps state without power. The Kindle displays famous authors and book covers when it's off. The side-effect of this, you can measure battery life in mostly 'page-turns' as it uses power to update the display, but not while you're reading.
I really can't wait to see what the new generation of large-screen eInk readers will look like. I bought the Kindle DX specifically to be able to read PDFs, books, and papers I already had. The smaller format readers (nook, kindle 2, etc) are fine for reading fiction and non-formatted documents, but a lot less useful to me personally.
I am fully convinced that eInk is a viable surface to read on and I can't wait to see what the displays will look like when they mature.
Yeah I'm still holding out for something that simulates 8.5x11 paper. The upcoming QUE from Plastic Logic looks promising... 8.5x11, wifi, pdf and annotation (capacitive touchscreen) support. Supposedly in January. Coincidentally, it will also use the B&N ebookstore.
How is reading say, a research paper, on your DX? I have been tempted by it, but the screen still seems too small.
To be honest, it is pretty small but it's very usable. In well-let areas that aren't moving, the scaled-down PDFs look readable and 'good enough'. If you want, you can send me a PDF and I'll take a picture of what it looks like on the DX.
I also thought about waiting for the Plastic Logic device, but decided on getting the DX for a few reasons. First, I had about $300 of Amazon gift cards from my credit card, and the Kindle became a great target to spend it on. Secondly, considering QUE's target market, I assumed it would be prohibitively expensive for a personal reading device. Also, the DX is available now and has a cell connection, which is nice.
research papers look great, I read lots of two-column ACM style papers which are just fine. Here's a picture that someone else took for me before I decided to buy it: http://files.getdropbox.com/u/52575/photo.jpg
This reminds me a lot of the video game console market, where newcomers compete with: the existing consoles with the established customer base, library of games and even second or third generation consoles that have the initial quirks ruled out.
B&N will have to compete with the Kindle and even Sony's readers to an extent. The biggest question is always what will B&N bring to the table that is different enough or better than its competitors to woo customers over? It seems a lot like just another iPod and iTunes clone.
I think one notable difference is the ability to go to a local store and see the device in person - this is a huge advantage and one that may help them cover a lot of ground quickly.
Looking at the comparison chart with the line "More than a million titles available" and thinking about the leverage they have with publishers, I think B&N has already passed Amazon.
In what regard? Depth? Breadth? Looking at their site I think they have enough of the popular stuff covered to give them time to work their way into the long tail before their ebook reader is in enough hands to matter.
Plus they have PDF for a much more affordable price than the Kindle (the Kindle 2's PDF support is mediocre at best, stupidly terrible at worst). That's a killer feature for people who may already own a significant library of PDF content.
And how long until the B&N bookstore will be able to match the number of ebooks offered at Amazon? Until then B&N will lose customers to the company with an already established library.
