Kindle -vs- Nook

[phred]

At under $150, phhht, I just keep one in any room in which I might want to read.

Since you can't actually share accounts easily on a Kindle, my wife and I wound up buying 2 apiece, plus a Fire, plus putting the app on 2 or 3 devices each so that we could read each other's books from time to time. With the Kobo, we just got a single account and share it on both devices (plus the free app...). :D
We bought my father-in-law a Nook, so that B&N could provide technical assistance. :D

 

[philobeddoe]

I have read many books on my iPad mini and love it, you have access to kindle, nook and iTunes as well as all the other Apple apps etc. in my opinion the iPad is the only way to go.

 

[dochudson]

Since you can't actually share accounts easily on a Kindle, my wife and I wound up buying 2 apiece, plus a Fire, plus putting the app on 2 or 3 devices each so that we could read each other's books from time to time. With the Kobo, we just got a single account and share it on both devices (plus the free app...). :D
We bought my father-in-law a Nook, so that B&N could provide technical assistance. :D

Huh?
assuming you and the wife live together with a shared checkbook way would you have multiple Kindle accounts? you could have (up to 5 I think) registered to joe blow and buy all your books as joe blow and loaded whichever books to whichever Kindle you want leaving others back out on the cloud. what app are you adding to the Kindles?

 

[instymp]

I still love paper.

 

[warren]

dochudson: Here's what wrong with having the wife using my Kindle account, our tastes in books are totally different. My wife buys for her Kindle on my account. I'll tell you what's wrong with that. Every time she buys a book my list of "recommended" gets loaded up with mystery writers. I have to go through and insure that her purchases are not used in that manner. It's a minor complaint, but it does grate a bit. Also, my account is rigged to one of my checking accounts so she's spending my allowance, not hers. Good for her! For me? Not so great. Still, I do love her so I tolerate the situation.

 

[ssjones]

I'm reading Carleton's "Pipe Smoking, a 21st Century Guide" in hardback. I haven't read anything but a Kindle book in the past year. I value having a hard copy of a book like this, but what a PITA it is to actually read vs. the Kindle...

 

[dochudson]

dochudson: Here's what wrong with having the wife using my Kindle account, our tastes in books are totally different. My wife buys for her Kindle on my account. I'll tell you what's wrong with that. Every time she buys a book my list of "recommended" gets loaded up with mystery writers. I have to go through and insure that her purchases are not used in that manner. It's a minor complaint, but it does grate a bit. Also, my account is rigged to one of my checking accounts so she's spending my allowance, not hers. Good for her! For me? Not so great. Still, I do love her so I tolerate the situation.

sorry, I've been married 44 years so the idea of his and her checking accounts never crossed my mine.

 

[ravkesef]

Wow, now this thread has certainly grown legs. One thing I like about my iPad-- if I want to read at night in a dark room, it's a cinch--and it doesn't awaken SWMBO. sitting on my deck in bright sunlight, or reading at the table, curled up in a chair, etc., the Kindle is a snap. Do I still enjoy reading a physical book? Sure, but a Kindle is much easier to manage on an airplane, or in any other situation where weight and space are an issue. And when I have my Kindle with me, I've got literally hundreds of books, can download a new book in less than a minute, and can quickly cross check references, etc. Then there's the fact that the Kindle instantly synchronizes across platforms, so if I happen to take my iPad onto the train, I can immediately open to the page I was on in my Kindle. What about the Nook? It's a nice device, but relative merits don't enter into the equation. Thirty years ago Sony Betamax was better than VHS, but VHS caught on and Betamax didn't. The Nook is terminal technology. You can still buy them, but there's no new development. The Kobo is good, but it really is a niche market. This is one battle that the Kindle has won,

 

[rmbittner]

"Do I still enjoy reading a physical book? Sure, but a Kindle is much easier to manage on an airplane, or in any other situation where weight and space are an issue."
My wife reads 2-3 books a week, I think. If it weren't for the Kindle, we'd need a bigger house! And I've found myself buying printed copies of some books and then picking up the digital versions when I actually get around to reading them, just because they're so much easier to manage when reading in bed or packing for a trip.
Yes, I love "real" books. We own several thousand of them. But for ease of reading, quick dictionary access, searchability, and overall handling, I'll pick a Kindled book every time -- if it's available.
Bob

 

[dochudson]

our Metro library system has the option to check out a lot of their books directly to your Kindle. Beats ordering a book, having it moved to your branch, driving to get it and driving to return it.

 

[rmbittner]

dochudson:
My life's motto has been "If it's worth reading, it's worth owning."
Bob

 

[terrygoldman123]

Neither a Kindle or a Nook just hardbacks. Old school librarian here.

 

[mrenglish]

Is there a way to organize your books on the Kindle?
For instance, on the Nook you have a library and can create shelves based on whatever criteria you specify. Helps keeps things organized.

 

[warren]

I love "dead tree" books! But, if I had to store all of the books I have on the Kindle in the house . . . Well, I just don't have the room. Also, I can take tens of 1,000's of books on vacation. So, I now own nearly 500 books on the Kindle and they are all on my hard drive. Add that amount to the sizable collection of books on shelves (500+ Civil War volumes alone) in the house, in boxes in the sheds, etc. and the Kindle and iPad become even more recognizably necessities.
These days I pretty well restrict the "dead tree" books to first editions and other collectables. Space is at a premium and I am a voracious reader with at least two or three going at one time. Also, I must have room for the pipes, tobacco and such necessities.
mrenglish: Yes!
Further, I have read many, many books that were not worth owning. Grace Metalious' "Payton Place" was a great read for a teenager, but hardly worth having in a library. Dick Francis? Worth reading and sometimes a reread, not good enough to take up space on a shelf. T. E. Laurence, Llywelyn, Solzhenitsyn and L'Amour all rate space on my shelf. I'm very eclectic in my choices of reading material and the Kindle is a God send.

 

[ssjones]

I keep saying that I like hard-copy reference book. But truth be told, it is far easier to search for a subject/topic/refernce via the Kindle and get it instantly versus thumbing thru a paper book's TOC or index.
I have the "Collections App" on my Fire, but it is so cumbersome to use, I haven't bothered to try and learn it.

http://www.amazon.com/Collections-for-Kindle-Fire-HD/dp/B009YOX6XQ/ref=sr_1_26?s=mobile-apps&ie=UTF8&qid=1390077696&sr=1-26&keywords=kindle+fire+apps

 

[dochudson]

dochudson:
My life's motto has been "If it's worth reading, it's worth owning."
Bob

that's so special of you..

 

[plateauguy]

I have to admit it, I love hardback books. But . . . I can adjust the type size on the Kindle, file by collections, and keep 1200 books in half the space of a magazine. It's great for travel, and I don't have to wait for a book to arrive.
Oh, I forgot to mention, the nice people at Amazon helped my unfreeze my Kindle and it's working great! Now, I suppose I have to wait for Father's Day or my birthday to get a Paperwhite.

 

[escioe]

I've sold both nooks and kobos in the past, and my take is that the nook is a glitchy mess, and the kobo is a one-trick pony. But to me, that's a good trick. I don't have use for a tablet-esque reader, so I'd probably go with a kobo or a Kindle Paperweight. Or if I wanted to just use the kindle or nook apps, I'd get an iPad mini.
I'm still a book guy, but if you read lots of stuff in the public domain, it makes sense to have an ereader to take advantage of the free or $.99 price of public domain works. I'll get one eventually.

 

[phred]

assuming you and the wife live together with a shared checkbook way would you have multiple Kindle accounts?

While my wife and I do share a house, we each have our own "fun money" accounts, which we each used at different times to set up Amazon and Kindle accounts in our own names - and retroactively merging them has proven dang near impossible, so we set up the Kobo as a single account from the get-go.
But we've only been married for 23 years (officially), so plenty of time for us to rethink it. :D

 

[rmbittner]

mrenglish:
As for organizing books on the Kindle. . . Yes, to an extent. You can create rudimentary folders and keep books in those. But that function may be limited only to the hardware Kindles; I haven't tried using it on Kindle app.
Bob