SuperSite Blog Daily Update: January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

The BBC is reporting that "a number of people" with Hotmail accounts have noticed missing emails. Apparently, the BBC has resorted to trolling around the Microsoft support forums looking for stories. Excuse me, that's not even original reporting: It's the AP that's trolling around. Unreal.

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RIM refutes claims (which I previously described as somewhat fanciful) that the battery life of its upcoming PlayBook tablet is poor. "Any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented," the BlackBerry maker said in an emailed statement. There you go.

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Barnes & Noble now says that their own eBook reader, the Nook Color, is the best-selling product it has ever sold. Sounds familiar. And it looks like Apple isn't the only company with Kindle envy. Which leads me to the next obvious conclusion: Buying a Nook makes even less sense than buying an iPad right now.

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Speaking of the superior eBook platform, Amazon enabled book lending for Kindle customers.

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Bloomberg says that the Verizon iPhone will be announced within weeks, or right after CES. It's hard to say what the long-term impact will be here, if this happens, but it's going to be huge short-term.

Discuss this Article 3

bill@bleeman.com
on Jan 3, 2011
Your comments about the Nook color bring up a question I've been meaning to ask. Why do you think the Kindle is better than the original Nook? When I did my original comparison I opted for the Nook because I preferred the touch over the keypad and more importantly with the ePub format it gave me access to more resources including the ability to check out books from my local library. I can see where the Kindle and the original Nook have it over the Nook color because of things like longer battery life, easier on the eyes with e-Ink, etc. but I've often wondered what was the pull to the Kindle over the Nook beyond it was out first so more users no doubt have them.

Thanks!

pthurrott
on Jan 4, 2011
Bill: The Nook originally had performance issues, which I understand were addressed over time, but what this boils down to is the ecosystem. Amazon has a better/bigger store of titles that matter (i.e. not padded with free out of print books) and the books can be read on the widest variety of devices.

If you compare the Kindle experience, overall, to any of the competition, it comes out ahead in a number of categories, but vs. the non-color Nook, those are the biggest. Against the color Nook, I'd just point out that LCD isn't ideal for reading, at least not yet. I understand that's changing too. But the battery life isn't comparable either.

bill@bleeman.com
on Jan 4, 2011
Paul,

Thanks for the comments. I too had heard the early Nook's had performance issues. When I got mine last Feb. it was a bit sluggish with page turns but that was pretty much fixed with the 1.4 release and with the latest 1.5 release I haven't had any issues.

I know what you mean by the support on more devices. I keep hoping B&N will release their app for my WP7 Focus but not holding my breath.

So far on the titles side, with ePub I can get books from B&N, the Sony Library, Borders, and most important my local library. So far I can't keep up with that ;-)

I agree on the color Nook. Tempting from the "Oh, look how pretty it is" aspect, but not something for serious reading. My wife bought me an iPad awhile back (My only Apple product, as I've always been more interested in the Windows World) and I've tried reading on it, but I'll take the lighter Nook and an eInk screen any day.

Thanks for all info over the years, I started reading your stuff back in the Windows NT days (I think Digital Review was a sister mag of Windows NT mag) as I grew up on DECsystem 10's, 20's, and Alpha's. As a matter of fact my first NT machine was an Alpha 2100. I've always enjoyed your writing and viewpoints and enjoy watching you and Leo on Windows Weekly on my Tivo each week and downloaded the new Twit app for my WP7 so I can check it out during my lunch hour.









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