Saturday, October 2, 2010

Let's talk about Barnes & Noble's Nook

I'm aware that these posts appear on my author's page at amazon.com...and I get a little kick out of that fact. I like Amazon, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to disrespect them or what they do. Let's call posts like this a little expirament. I'm an Amazon Associate. That doesn't mean much. It means that if you buy a book from Amazon through this website, I'll get a little money without it costing you a thing.

So far, I'm happy to report, Amazon owes me less than a buck. That's after 3 months. They'll pay me when they owe me a hundred bucks. I'm all a-twitter.

At the rate they're paying me, I can afford to be honest. I think Barnes & Noble's Nook (ebook reader) is a much better device than the Kindle. There's nothing wrong with the Kindle. It's light, it's easy to read, and it's fast.

I just like the Nook better. The Nook (which you can pick up and feel before you buy if you go to Barnes & Noble), feels like a book in my hands. It has a color touch screen. You can see the covers of the book you're reading. The most basic model Nook costs 10 bucks more than the most basic model Kindle, but if you buy a Nook from a Barnes & Noble store, the money you save on shipping and handling vs. Kindle makes up the difference. You can also take your Nook to a Barnes & Noble store and browse books on it before you decide to buy.

I'm going to buy one of those Nook things pretty soon.

*A little caveat... Until yesterday, I was going to buy a Kindle instead of a Nook. The reason was both selfish and simple: my books were available as Kindle books, but not as Nook books. As of yesterday, that changed.

2 comments:

Jeffrey Miller said...

I wish I could buy a Nook here in Korea, but those kind of gadgets are not available here and cannot be sent here.

I've been a faithful Amazon Customer since 1998 and there was a time when Amazon would send me small gifts as a token of their appreciation for all the books and CDs I ordered.

I like B&N because they accept PayPal.

Also B&N will ship toys to Korea; Amazon won't.

I will continue to use both services. I just wish folks would lighten up some about toys and Nooks and allow them to be sent overseas so I can enjoy life too.

David J. Steele said...

Thanks for the post. I didn't know Korea doesn't allow things like Nooks to be shipped there. Is it a fear (an understandable one, if one it is) of security threats from electronic devices?

Like I said, I don't have a real problem with Amazon, and will use their services. I will admit a bias toward Barnes & Noble because I like physical stores. I don't mind ordering things online (which is good, because that's the only way to get my books!), but given a choice, I'll buy things in person.

Like you, I wish you could order toys, etc. and have them shipped to you so you can enjoy life to its fullest.