The "nook" should be called the "no"

The Kindle and the Nook are intriguing devices. Marketed as e-book readers, the intent is to replace paper books with electronic ones. They both look interesting. I've seen people using the Kindle, and this week-end I stopped by the local Barnes and Noble to check out the Nook.

I find it nice, but not compelling.

My biggest complaint is probably the name. Barnes and Noble gets the "dumbest name of a consumer product" award. (The previous holder of said award was Amazon.com, for "Kindle". So the unappealing names of the two devices cancel.)

Despite the name, I find I prefer the Nook over the Kindle. Partly because of the virtual keyboard, partly because of the Android operating system, and partly because of the feel of the device. The virtual keyboard is more flexible, and the Nook uses the space for other menus and commands. I like the idea of an open-source operating system. And the Nook feels nice in my hands -- its a comfortable fit.

But the Nook web site has too many "no" answers. It plays MP3 audio files, but not Ogg Vorbis audio files. (And on an Android O/S!) It doesn't let me share notes with friends. (I can lend books to friends, but not my annotations.) It doesn't let me update my Facebook or LiveJournal pages. It doesn't let me surf the web. Its a device with narrow functionality.

I'm not sure that the Kindle is any better. (I've looked at the Nook more than the Kindle, so I can't really speak about the Kindle.)

I understand the reasoning for limiting the devices. They (Amazon.com and B&N) want to use it to drive book sales (e-book sales directly and paper book sales indirectly) and also want to minimize network traffic. Users don't pay for airtime and connections; B&N and Amazon.com pay for them. Also, a complex device is hard for a lot of non-techies to use. Most people don't care about the format of their music, or Facebook updates, or sharing notes. At least, not yet.

Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com are missing the point. They have designed their e-readers for the baby-boomer generation, people focussed on themselves. The Kindle and the Nook are excellent devices for sitting in a corner, reading to yourself, and not interacting with others. But that's not the device for me. I want to share (think of  LiveJournal, DOPPLR, Facebook, and Twitter) and have little use for a "me only" device.