UPDATE: 12/28/09 It only took the people over at NookDevs a week to jailbreak the Nook. There is a now a softmod that gets you a web browser. This is what I love about having an eReader that runs the Android open source OS – the odds of us getting the eReader to do what we want is much, much higher.
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The Nook is looking even less attractive. The Kindle has an experimental web browser. Based on the answers provided by B&N in the discussion forum here, it looks like the Nook isn’t going to have one of these.
This may well be a deal breaker for me. What’s really weird is their stated reason for not including the browser.
Hello, tmnc.
nook does not have a web browser. The E Ink display is great for reading, but is less ideal for web browsing. We’re focused on the eReading experience, and think we’ve got the features most people are looking for.
Thanks for the question.
I call bull. E-ink is not great for serious web browsing with lots of flash or java scripts, but for lightweight web browsing it’s great. I borrowed a friend’s Kindle for the weekend a few weeks ago to try it out. Browsing blogs in Google Reader was awesome. Reading mobile versions of main-stream media was also awesome. The notion that the web browsing wouldn’t be good on an eReader for the sorts of things an technophile would use it for is completely bogus.
Furthermore, the suggestion that “they’re not focusing on it” because it’s not part of the eReading experience makes me think they want people to think that installing a web browser would have diluted their focus. Come on! First, lightweight web browsing is part of the eReading experience (see paragraph above) for a lot of people. Second, the thing runs Android. A web browser is pretty much ready to go. B&N could have put a lightweight browser on there with next to no effort. And they can label the thing as “experimental” like Amazon did, and they pretty much relieve themselves of the expectation to support it.
One of the speculated reasons why B&N isn’t actually including a web browser is that they must have some deal with AT&T. I think that’s probably right. I suspect another reason is that they want to sell Nook users subscriptions to newspapers. If Nook users had free mobile web access to their favorite news content, they’d be less likely to buy subscriptions (although that didn’t stop Amazon from including a web browser).
If PDF support is adequate, then I may still break down and get a Nook. That is the most important feature for me. However, I’ll probably be waiting until after the holidays. On January 7, Plastic Logic gives us full details on the Que. We don’t have many details yet, but what we do know is that it’s size of a standard sheet of paper. It has a bigger screen with native PDF, Word, Spreadsheet, and Powerpoint viewing capability. My main concern with the Que is that, because they’re targeting businesses, the device may be out of an academic’s price range. We’ll have to wait and see.
Hmm?? the thickness and size is so unbelievable, not to mention the E ink. Will it not be popular if they enable Web browsing, support flash/java, .doc files, .avi/.mp4 files, and put on a clock? sure it’ll be expensive*, but who cares? there are many people who can work to afford that* price. one step towards advancement is a must.
The answer is simple. B&N wants you to buy E-books with Nook, not browsing the Web.
If B&N only wants you to buy E-Books and not browse the web with the Nook, then I guess I’ll have to get a product that I can buy E-Books AND browse the web (aka Kindle).