B&N's New Nook Wireless Portable Reading Device Takes on Amazon's eBook Reader Device

The new Nook wireless portable reading device being sold by Barnes and Noble, the worlds largest book store with over 1,300 branches, looks set to lock horns with the worlds best selling eBook reader device, the Kindle2.

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Though not in stores yet, the Nook is looking to ruffle Amazon's feathers further by taking it on directly in a sector of the market, that up to yet, the Amazon Kindle has dominated. Since it's launch, firstly as the Kindle then later in February 2009 as the Kindle2, it has re-ignited the eBook reader market by offering a mix of revolutionary technology, through it's instant connect anywhere wireless networking and also the largest selection of titles available for download at fantastic, cheaper than the high street, prices.

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Customers brought in to the concept in a big way and it is only recently that the rest of the industry have woken up to the fact that this is the future of book buying. An so in the last couple of months we have had the announcement from Sony of their intention to join in the fun, with their soon to be released (early December at the last reckoning) Daily Edition, and the latest press release from Barnes and Noble that their own contender, the Nook, will be ready for shipping during the latter part of November.

There are no doubts that the Kindle2 is the device everyone is going after. And to be honest it's pleasing to see a little competition in this sector. Yes we have had the iRex iLiad but it was a little on the large side to be a wireless portable reading device, perfect for office use with the 1:1 A4 reproduction, but much like the KindleDX - another wireless eBook reader - not something you would want to take on vacation, or put in your handbag or pocket for that matter, and it was never going to compete on price was it?

So now we have two large companies willing to go head to head, with the might of Amazon, on all fronts. Sony recently increased the size of their library at the Sony-Store and reduced the prices of their Digitally delivered titles to match that of Amazons and hopefully B&N, who have always been in the same ballpark price wise, will match them title for title as well.

But the biggest news for consumers has to be the move away from proprietary file formats, used by Sony in the early days and still used by the Kindle now. To explain the situation I will use Amazon as an example, remember this is still the case with the Kindle so it makes it clearer.

With proprietary formats, when you purchase a book for digital download from Amazon it will come in their own file format. AZW which only allows you to read it on the Kindle. So if in the future you decided you wanted to swap book readers to another make, your library of eBooks become useless. Make your own mind up if that's fair or not.

That scenario has been a big stumbling block for the industry in general but also for the makers of other eBook readers in particular. They where never going to be able to offer the number of titles Amazon where capable of doing and so this aided sales of the Kindle. And so they offer support for more file formats, particularly the Adobe PDF, which is a favorite format for free eBooks, but this format does not reproduce a scaled down version of text that well as it was always supposed to be reproducing text at an A4 size, perfect for the DX and iLiad readers but not so for the smaller 5,6 and 7 inch screens.

And so came the Epub standard, an open source format designed to display text. It is fast emerging as the format of the future and has gained support from the likes of Google Library who will be releasing their entire one million titles, of which the majority are free to down load, in this format. Barnes and Noble will also be doing the same as will the Sony-Store.

So you can see that any eBook reader device that has support for this format will be future proof. B&N's Nook Wireless Portable Reading Device has .Epub support, as does the Sony Daily Edition, and so you can download your eBooks from where ever you choose, paid for or free, and not just from the manufacturer of the eBook reader device , which is the case with the Kindle portable reading device.

B&N's New Nook Wireless Portable Reading Device Takes on Amazon's eBook Reader Device

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Will The Portable EBook Reader Make Traditional Books Obsolete?

It appears to be the year of the portable eBook reader - the Amazon Kindle DX has been the fastest and best-selling gadget for quit some time with the Barnes and Noble Nook coming in at a close second. EBooks outsold traditional paper books as gifts for over a year now. However, the news has prompted much debate over the question - Will the eReader make traditional books obsolete?'

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The Argument Against the Portable eBook Reader

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The eReader is undoubtedly becoming more and more popular, there are several factors, however, that could slow the pace of it's growing popularity. First off, the price of an ereader - even the cheapest model - is many, many times more than the price of a book. On top of the reader itself, there is still the cost of each new eBook to consider. Unfortunately, the price a paper book versus an ebook...well they're just about the same price.

There is also the fact that the traditional book is a part of our history, and sometimes culture is a difficult thing to change. There are people who love the feel of a book, who love to fold down the pages and love to make notes. People love going to the libraries and roaming the bookshelves. They love seeing books in their physical form, which can never be completely replaced with the ebook.

In fact, books become an artifact from history in their own right. Some people feel that paper books have a greater lifespan than a gadget could ever have - electronics tend to break down eventually or another gadget comes along that takes their place.

The Argument for the Portable eReader

Many people say that you can't understand the experience of an eBook reader until you have one of your own. Even some of the strongest book lovers have found themselves converted to digital format, and see eBooks as the format of the future.

Indeed, many business and universities already make use of digital forms of books to help make them more accessible. Students can simply read papers and chapters from home, rather than having to go out to the library and carry heavy books back with them. Most of the major brands, including the Amazon Kindle DX and the Barnes and Noble Nook, allow for annotations - making eBook readers far more valuable than simply displaying words on a screen.

A Middle Ground?

The middle ground states that, eBook readers will continue to grow in popularity, and eBooks will become more and more widely accepted. It's doubtful that the physical book will ever be completely replaced, however, the portable eBook reader will make books more accessible, especially through the help of free libraries such as Project Gutenberg. Good news is we don't have to make a definitive decision. We can have the best of both worlds...electronic and physical books.

Will The Portable EBook Reader Make Traditional Books Obsolete?

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