Suggested Improvements For V 1.4

[mdac]

Are any admins checking this thread? Does this get the attention of any developers? I have several suggestions but I don't want to post them here if B&N isn't going to consider them.

If nobody is looking at this, where do I go? There are several usability issues that should be addressed as well as other enhancements to the UI and system (some of them already mentioned in this thread) that would help to improve the user experience.

[Michael-V]

@mdac,

Thank you for posting.  We're striving to improve the reading experience and your input is valuable. 

I personally read every single thread on this board and our developers are aware of this thread and any new threads that entail update suggestions and improvements. 

Your Admin.,

Michael-V

[challaday]

Yes, Go To Page # would be a huge plus.  That and Collections/shelves/folders would be my two biggest wishes for the nook.

[mdac]

Thanks, Michael! I scanned the thread and didn't see a response from from you or any other Administrators, so I just wanted to make sure.

As far as I know, all of these changes can be made with system or device software/firmware upgrades and don't require new hardware. Hopefully, some of these will be considered for the next firmware update?

• Move the "Cancel" button to the bottom, as far away as possible from "Buy Now" when confirming the purchase of an e-book. This will prevent unintentional purchases.
• Add a separate display option for dimming the touchscreen in certain situations. One for reading a book and another for everything else. I set my option to 10s (lowest) so that when I'm reading, I can swipe to turn pages immediately. Unfortunately, this setting ruins my shopping experience (it takes a few seconds for the page to load and then a few more seconds for me to read the content) and slows me down to a point where I either stop shopping to adjust my settings or simply give up.
• Add "repeat" mode to the music player (with no gap). This one really bugged me as it is standard on almost all software music players. I added a few nature sounds to my nook (rain, bubbling brook, forest, etc.) but they each only last for about 30 seconds and are meant to loop. This would make the tracks extremely useful as background/white noise when I read during my commute on a train in Chicago.
• Web surfing on the wireless network (not just wifi). Kindle has it!
• I'm sure some people would love text-to-speech so I'll add it here. I personally think it's a nice to have, but I'm fine without it unless it sounds more natural than robotic.
• Ability to sort by price in the e-book store on the device.
• Ability to sort by Google in the e-book store on the device.
• Ability to find/sort by free in-store reading (not samples) of e-books on the device. I have to view the details of each book before I know I can read the complete text in the store. While I'm at it, I thought all in-store e-book reading was free when I bought my nook!
• Ability to download attachments to my SD card from e-mail. Blocking executable files is understandable, but at least allow me to download files that my nook can read (epub, pdf,  mp3, etc.).
• If I can't download e-mail attachments, allow me to upload documents to my B&N account so that I can download to my device(s).
• The nook is an e-book reader made with Android, yet there's a B&N e-book reader application for all other devices except the Android OS? This, I don't understand. There used to be a statement in the comparison table saying that one was coming, but it has been removed.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

mdac wrote:

there's a B&N e-book reader application for all other devices except the Android OS?

The only devices that have a B&N Reader application right now are the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Blackberry.

(Not counting PC and Mac).

[svsu]

I would say we need slightly faster page turns and touch screen needs to be a little more sensitive. Get rid of the games.

[orb9220]

Just got mine a 3 days ago. And have a running txt file for improvements.

Still haven't decide to keep it. And there 10% restocking fee really pisses me off.

But so far things that have really irked me.

1) No genre or folder - I need this as I might download a dozen or two unfamilar authors-titles. Genre for "I am in the mood for something new in scifi or fantasy or Horror and then browse in that genre kind of thing.
2) No Cover Flow for My documents. Again I'm a visual guy and may not remember author's name or title. I find it much faster to find a particular book even with the slowish and sluggish book flow.
3) No way to delete on the nook. And having to go thru B&N my account is a miserable way to manage your library. Doubly So for us that can't buy books due to credit card issue.
4) No decent go to page and lousy labeling,editing of bookmarks.
5) No quick way to go to airplane mode.
6) Touch LCD still way to sluggish and unresponive at times.
7) Not listening to customer concerns on firmware. Add crap we didn't ask for like games and haven't addressed basic operations issues pending since release.
8) No way to purchase content without credit card.

I-tunes gift card can be used right on device without Credit Card.
9) Slow startup small issue but still an issue.
10) Disable the Push marketing mentality of Ads for books I don't want or need showing up on My Nook!
11) Battery shutting down way to soon? At 20%-30% so we are losing 20-30 percent of battery usability? Shouldn't we get all the battery down to 5% or so before warning us?

Sorry but I only wish success for the nook and the only way I see that happening. Is for B&N listening and Giving Us what we Need!...Not wasting time on stuff They Think We Want!

[Michael-V]

You are welcome.  Believe me when I state that we are striving to improve the reading experience and your input is valuable. 

Your Admin.,

Michael-V

[LarryOnLI]

1) No genre or folder - I need this as I might download a dozen or two unfamilar authors-titles. Genre for "I am in the mood for something new in scifi or fantasy or Horror and then browse in that genre kind of thing.

I understand this. A number of people have been asking for something similar.

2) No Cover Flow for My documents. Again I'm a visual guy and may not remember author's name or title. I find it much faster to find a particular book even with the slowish and sluggish book flow.

Personally I haven't used coverflow since day 1. I think it's a useless gimmick, but you are right, if the feature is available for B&N content it should be available for all content.

3) No way to delete on the nook. And having to go thru B&N my account is a miserable way to manage your library. Doubly So for us that can't buy books due to credit card issue.

If you were able to delete from teh nook, sooner or latter you would do a "fat finger" and permanently delete content you wanted to keep. Then you would be complaining to B&N that you didn't have access to your paid for content anymore. You can archive from teh nook and this will remove the book from your nook.

4) No decent go to page and lousy labeling,editing of bookmarks.

I totally agree with you on the bookmarks. As far as go to page, I thought I wanted this but after using the nook for over months I now realize this is a feature I would use rarely if at all. I do think B&N should implement go to page just to shut up everyone whining about it.

5) No quick way to go to airplane mode.

You want faster than an icon on the main menu?

6) Touch LCD still way to sluggish and unresponive at times.

Mine seems quite responsive.

7) Not listening to customer concerns on firmware. Add crap we didn't ask for like games and haven't addressed basic operations issues pending since release.

You've been a nook owner for 3 days and you're complaining that the developers aren't listening to your change requests?

8) No way to purchase content without credit card.

I-tunes gift card can be used right on device without Credit Card.

The credit card is used for DRM purposes not for purchasing.

9) Slow startup small issue but still an issue.

Ok it does start up slow. I'll give you that.

10) Disable the Push marketing mentality of Ads for books I don't want or need showing up on My Nook!

What ads? I get neither ads nor unrequested eBook samples downloaded to my nook. This is begining to sound like you are parroting every unsubstatiated complaint you read on teh board.

11) Battery shutting down way to soon? At 20%-30% so we are losing 20-30 percent of battery usability? Shouldn't we get all the battery down to 5% or so before warning us?

You get a warning at 20%. The nook doesn't shut itself down until it is below 1%.

[orb9220]

Thanks for the point to point issues response.

Got me thinking and help clarify my points.

But you seem to also make some assumptions on what I might need,do kind of thing.

5) No quick way to go to airplane mode.

You want faster than an icon on the main menu?

Well it's seems it is only a two button state. And remember now probably more with struggling to find it the first time. But how about auto-pilot? :-) Goes to airplane mode automatically when reading or a book is opened?

6) Touch LCD still way to sluggish and unresponive at times.

Mine seems quite responsive.

Mine seems to be a tad jerky at times scrolling back and forth. Especially in cover flow.

And maybe my technique,finger surface?,oils?,etc but sometimes doesn't register a swipe. Don't know if it is me or the hardware/software?

7) Not listening to customer concerns on firmware. Add crap we didn't ask for like games and haven't addressed basic operations issues pending since release.

You've been a nook owner for 3 days and you're complaining that the developers aren't listening to your change requests?

And do you go out and just buy something or look at the history of users and determine if they have valid concerns? And are they being addressed? I don't have to be a long time owner to be concerned if a company is not addressing basic issues and chiming in my 2 cents to give it more weight of importance when I find it valid to complain about. I also wasn't looking for development to add browser or games when resources could have been applied to know issues and basic functions like Reading! That's what I bought it fo Reading not playing chess,etc or crappy web browsing on a tiny screen.

8) No way to purchase content without credit card.

I-tunes gift card can be used right on device without Credit Card.

The credit card is used for DRM purposes not for purchasing.

Thanks for clarifing that point. But doesn't change the fact. That I still can't buy a book with a gift card. I was pointing out that under the present conditions some of use can't use the gift cards like you can with just about any other type gift card online without a credit card.

[mdac]

Doug_Pardee wrote:

mdac wrote:

there's a B&N e-book reader application for all other devices except the Android OS?

The only devices that have a B&N Reader application right now are the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Blackberry.

(Not counting PC and Mac).

It appears that I may have been too general in my statement!

Dear developers and anybody else that may have concern:

I did not mean to imply that I expect to see the B&N e-Book Reader on every single device in existence outside of the mobile and computing categories, ruling out such devices as planes, trains, automobiles, scientific measuring instruments, and lighters (though these may be considered by some to be "mobile fire devices"). I only meant, and I stated this along with the original text of the excerpt above, that an Android version of the B&N e-Book Reader seems to make sense since the nook itself is based on the Android OS and that the application has been developed for several, not "all," devices.

Again, I apologize for any confusion.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

orb9220 wrote:

But how about auto-pilot? :-) Goes to airplane mode automatically when reading or a book is opened?

It already shuts off the wireless when you go into reading mode, or into games, and a few other places I don't remember right now.

orb9220 wrote:

Mine seems to be a tad jerky at times scrolling back and forth. Especially in cover flow.

And maybe my technique,finger surface?,oils?,etc but sometimes doesn't register a swipe. Don't know if it is me or the hardware/software?

The touch-screen is something that just takes getting used to. The folks who're accustomed to Apple's touch screens seem to adapt more quickly.

In most cases there's a delay after you touch the screen while the NOOK waits to see if it was accidental or not. First you touch the screen, pause for half a beat, then you move your finger. You can get a feeling for how long you have to wait by watching the menus. You touch a menu item, and a short time later it highlights.

The Sudoku game, for one, doesn't seem to have a delay for most operations. As a result, people sometimes end up with things happening that they didn't want. The most significant problem is when they find themselves at the "easy/medium/hard/extreme" game selection screen while they're in the middle of a game. Interestingly, the up/down scrolling does have a delay on it.

The virtual keyboard doesn't have a delay, either, if I recall correctly. You can type pretty far ahead of the display on the E-Ink screen.

Roughly, the touch-screen logic differentiates between these gestures:

• tap
• double-tap ("n" key only)
• touch
• drag (push, scroll, whatever)
• throw
• swipe (dark LCD only)

Learning how to accomplish those gestures and where each is needed is more complicated than it needs to be. I've said before on these forums that the NOOK events held at B&N stores really should spend some time teaching NOOK owners how to operate the touch screen.

Added: my personal favorite confusion point: if the LCD screen is dark and you want it to light up again, you can tap the screen but a touch doesn't work. Or you can touch the "n" key, but a tap doesn't work, but a double-tap does. Does this make any sense to anybody?

As a corollary, the screen will light up from a brief accidental touch, which then temporarily disables swiping if you're in reading mode (which I suspect most of us are, most of the time).

[LarryOnLI]

@orb9220,

Well then if you've been reading these boards - you'll find that that crappy web browser and the useless games were some of the most requested features back when the nook was still running version 1.1.1

When version 1.2 was released a large number of posters here berated B&N for not including the much requested web browser.

Personally I think the games are a total waste.

The web browser is required to connect to WiFi hotspots that require the user to agree to terms and conditions such as those found at Starbucks or many hotels. This is one of  the major reasons people were requesting it, not forgetting those people who insist on being able to read their email on every device they own.

As someone who has worked in IT for over 20 years and is familiar with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), I can assure you that any requests you make now are NOT going to be in the next release.

They might be in the one after that, but more likely is at least 2 to 3 releases down the road.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

LarryOnLI wrote:

The web browser is required to connect to WiFi hotspots that require the user to agree to terms and conditions such as those found at Starbucks or many hotels.

Annoyingly, the T&C page at Borders has an "Accept Conditions" button that doesn't respond to the NOOK. So I can't use Borders' free Wi-Fi to buy from B&N.

[LarryOnLI]

Doug_Pardee wrote:

LarryOnLI wrote:

The web browser is required to connect to WiFi hotspots that require the user to agree to terms and conditions such as those found at Starbucks or many hotels.

Annoyingly, the T&C page at Borders has an "Accept Conditions" button that doesn't respond to the NOOK. So I can't use Borders' free Wi-Fi to buy from B&N.

I would definitely complain to Borders about that 

[desmo]

orb9220 wrote:

8) No way to purchase content without credit card.

I-tunes gift card can be used right on device without Credit Card.

The credit card is used for DRM purposes not for purchasing.

Thanks for clarifing that point. But doesn't change the fact. That I still can't buy a book with a gift card. I was pointing out that under the present conditions some of use can't use the gift cards like you can with just about any other type gift card online without a credit card.

Can you not buy a pre-paid Visa at just about any gas station, Wal Mart, etc...??? My bank will even give them out free, so I can give as presents. I don't see the issue.

[orb9220]

Yep but my understanding they will stop working once you use them up?

As the CC # is not permanent and becomes invalid therefore your DRM books.

Some have suggested to leave a small balance on one to keep it valid?

But how long that is good for or after a time the card expires?

Still researching so don't have all the truths about it yet.

Of how viable a solution that is.

[Doug_Pardee Distinguished Bibliophile]

orb9220 wrote:

I still can't buy a book with a gift card. I was pointing out that under the present conditions some of use can't use the gift cards like you can with just about any other type gift card online without a credit card.

To be picky (not that it helps): you can buy an e-book without a credit card. You just can't download it afterward.

I think it's safe to say that this is something that's not going to change. B&N has made a huge commitment to using credit card numbers as encryption keys for their e-book DRM. They've worked with Adobe to include this form of encryption into Adobe's DRM software, and it's now working its way into other e-readers: the iRex DR800S, the Pandigital Novel, the Acer LumiRead, and the Samsung E60 so far.

The credit card used only needs to be able to handle a pre-authorization of $1. There's not really a huge risk here if you use a prepaid card with, say, $5 on it.

If you can't accept that, then don't buy from B&N. No business is going to be right for every potential customer.

[mmd12]

I have a pre-paid card from Wal-mart, it does cost $3 a month, but I have had it for several years and it is always active, even if there is no money on it.  I have part of my payroll check automatically added to my Wal-mart card every check, that I use online to pay bills.  If you add money this way it does not cost anything, otherwise it costs $3 every time you load money on to it.  I can use this card in stores & online, including to buy books for my Nook, it looks and acts like any Visa Debit Card.

[Cat_Tastrophe]

I bought a Nook yesterday and am expecting it tomorrow but I have a Debit card that is linked to my bank account so I can use that instead of a credit card which I avoid just out of personal preference. I suggest looking into getting a debit card since you can only spend what you have and the number doesn't change on the card.