Update update?

[Joykins]

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Dito wrote:

I also sense a lot of people here are paranoid that the Kindle, compared to the nook, was perfect at it's launch. Not so.

Here's a photo of a Kindle about six weeks after it hit the market. Nooks have been around for roughly three or four months, and I've never seen anything this bad:

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Oh, I have.  That's what happens if you drop the nook (by accident)  a few inches to a very hard surface (my tiled kitchen table) while reading it.  A reboot fixed it right up though.

[Sunhawk]

Last night there was a "Nook Club" meeting at a B&N in San Jose. In attendance were a number of developers, the head of QA and the director of the entire software team.

They would not go into a lot of details except to say that the update would be out within the week 

They also indicated that it fixed around 300 bugs.There were also specific statements about fixes to side loading, bookmarks, battery life, etc.

Turns out that I actually knew a couple of the guys and so I believe what was said.

So it could be tomorrow, or next week. I doubt if they knew last night since they appear to be in the mode where they are getting a build and testing it. Once they know of any issues, they are deciding whether it is releasable or if they need to fix something that has turned up. But the fact that they say within the week means it is very close and could be any day based on test results.

After talking to them, I think that they are very commited to the Nook and in it for the long haul.

One interesting thing that came out of my talk with them is the level of committment that B&N has for the Nook. You may or may not know that Amazon does not make the Kindle. They contract with another company to design it, manfucature it, and write all of the software for it (I know a few guys there too). But the Nook is being completely done in-house. B&N started a new division, staffed it and are doing the product themselves. These guys are Barnes and Noble employees. Not employees of some behind the scenes OEM.

[DogDoc]

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Sunhawk wrote:

Last night there was a "Nook Club" meeting at a B&N in San Jose. In attendance were a number of developers, the head of QA and the director of the entire software team.

They would not go into a lot of details except to say that the update would be out within the week 

They also indicated that it fixed around 300 bugs.There were also specific statements about fixes to side loading, bookmarks, battery life, etc.

Turns out that I actually knew a couple of the guys and so I believe what was said.

So it could be tomorrow, or next week. I doubt if they knew last night since they appear to be in the mode where they are getting a build and testing it. Once they know of any issues, they are deciding whether it is releasable or if they need to fix something that has turned up. But the fact that they say within the week means it is very close and could be any day based on test results.

After talking to them, I think that they are very commited to the Nook and in it for the long haul.

One interesting thing that came out of my talk with them is the level of committment that B&N has for the Nook. You may or may not know that Amazon does not make the Kindle. They contract with another company to design it, manfucature it, and write all of the software for it (I know a few guys there too). But the Nook is being completely done in-house. B&N started a new division, staffed it and are doing the product themselves. These guys are Barnes and Noble employees. Not employees of some behind the scenes OEM.

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Sunhawk,

Thanks for the update. Assuming you are on the up-and-up, and I have no reason to think otherwise, this seems like pretty credible information.

[eric_sf]

@Sunhawk - That's really neat information, thanks for sharing. How did you hear about that meeting or did you stumble across it? I'm in the Bay Area and would like to attend something like that.

On another note, I believe the Kindle is built and coded by a subsidiary of Amazon, Lab126... so I think technically they are Amazon. But I see your point that B&N is playing it closer by staffing internal employees. I just hope they didn't go for the cheap ones and instead paid top dollar for the talented ones ;-)

[Sunhawk]

Go to the events listing for individual stores. It was at the B&N on Stevens Creek Blvd. The next meeting is the first week of March (7??). There were a couple of employees from the Almaden store there as well as at least one other person that posts on this board.

So I can get called out easily enough if what I said isn't true.

As far as the Kindle and Lab126 is concerned. It is a subsidiary of Amazon. This means that it is a separate company/corporation under the control of Amazon. This is different than a division because a division is part of the same company. A subsidiary corporation has a separate Board of Directors, separate incorporation, charter, tax reporting, etc. Basically it is just controlled (generally owned) by the parent. So it can be shut down, sold, etc.. without any impact on any of the parent corporations reporting except for any financial impact. This is a much lower form of corporate commitment than a division. 

[JTHJ]

What about these guys?

http://www.intrinsyc.com/

[icebike]

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Sunhawk wrote:

Last night there was a "Nook Club" meeting at a B&N in San Jose. In attendance were a number of developers, the head of QA and the director of the entire software team.

  These guys are Barnes and Noble employees. Not employees of some behind the scenes OEM.

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Two points.....

First:

Sunhawk, I am DEEPLY disappointed that you were there and let these people escape.  Dammit man, are we going to have to send Jack Bauer along with you just to be sure you bring home the goods?  I would have tied them up and held them for ransom till my nook did everything perfectly.  That and a chopper with $127391.23 waiting for me on the roof.  And no cops!!!

But on a more serious note, the stuff about B&N doing this totally in house flies in the face of previous statements by  Tony Astarita, Vice President, Digital Products, Barnes & Noble.:  http://redhat.sys-con.com/node/1223008/mobile

[Sunhawk]

Read the article. It actually contains information that would have saved you the effort of posting.

They did the systems integration.

That means getting Android to run on the hardware. They did not do the hardware and they did not do any of the software that you see. It is the low-level drivers that companies frequently farm out. After the initial development they can either bring maintenance in-house or have an ongoing maintenance contract. The first costs more up front  and the second cost more over time. But either way, this is very specialized work that requires very specialized knowledge.

They delivered their finished product in September of last year. They may still be involved or not.

Doesn't really matter.

As far as my original post is concerned. Everything that I posted is true. You can accept it or not - I don't really care. But don't attack my honesty or credibility. I don't lie and chances are that I know more about this industry and how it works than you do. That might sound conceited but its still true.

[Sunhawk]

It sounded like the team has been built in the last few months so initial dev might have been external as in a previous post. The guys that I know were hired in the last six months to take roles in-house.

Another guy that they mentioned when they found out where I work, left my current company last summer. He is a low-level drivers kind of guy - and really good at what he does.

This is how a lot companies start a new product group. They go outside to get initial work and expertise so that they can get a solid product in less time and then bring it in-house for future development and maintenance.

[DogDoc]

Sunhawk,

I don't think anybody is challenging your integrity, rather they are expressing dissatisfaction at all of the previous "cries of wolf". I for one, am happy that you took the time to post what seems like the most credible info so far.

[icebike]

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Sunhawk wrote:

As far as my original post is concerned. Everything that I posted is true. You can accept it or not - I don't really care. But don't attack my honesty or credibility. I don't lie and chances are that I know more about this industry and how it works than you do. That might sound conceited but its still true.

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Ohhhh, aren't we prickly this morning!!!

People with English as their first language would have realized I was calling into question THEIR statement, not yours.      

[Sunhawk]

They were also asking a number of interesting questions, like how many of us used the finger swipe vs the button (I'm a button guy - hope they don't crack).

They were also interested in who has had lock-ups and what it took to get out of them. The interesting thing is that only a couple of us had experienced lock-ups. It sounded like they are concentrating on this kind of stuff.

They wanted to know about sideloading experiences and when I asked, they indicated that in the future there would be some enhancements in that area, but not anything significant in the upcoming release. I asked about cover-flow for sideloaded docs, and they said that there were issues there because the coverflow bitmaps are downloaded separately and are not part of the book itself. So this would be a problem with sideloaded docs that didn't have these pics. I suggested extracting the cover from the book and generating the pic. Then they didn't say anything about this suggestion.

I also bravely volunteered to be a beta tester if they started doing outside betas. That got more smiles.

I wasn't taking notes or recording the meeting, but those are most of the high points.

Oh yeah, one really sweet older woman had gotten her Nook very early and she immediately put it in airplane mode to save power. After some discussion, it became apparent that she was still running the 1.0 release. She hadn't had any problems and was happy with it. She was immediately given instructions about how to check for updates.

[Sunhawk]

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icebike wrote:

Ohhhh, aren't we prickly this morning!!!

People with English as their first language would have realized I was calling into question THEIR statement, not yours.      

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Sorry - It felt like an attack when all I was trying to do was to give everybody information that I got last night.

The office where these guys work is only a half-an-hour away, so I suspect that most store meetings aren't going to have access to this kind of information. I just wanted to pass it on. There were a little over a dozen people total and around a half-a-dozen of the people present were members of the Nook team. Then there was a young (just) married couple that worked at a B&N store.

BTW - I was born in Colorado and can't even speak any languages besides English  - I keep trying and they don't stick.

[BBBoutique]

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Sunhawk wrote:

Last night there was a "Nook Club" meeting at a B&N in San Jose. In attendance were a number of developers, the head of QA and the director of the entire software team.

They would not go into a lot of details except to say that the update would be out within the week 

They also indicated that it fixed around 300 bugs.There were also specific statements about fixes to side loading, bookmarks, battery life, etc.

Turns out that I actually knew a couple of the guys and so I believe what was said.

So it could be tomorrow, or next week. I doubt if they knew last night since they appear to be in the mode where they are getting a build and testing it. Once they know of any issues, they are deciding whether it is releasable or if they need to fix something that has turned up. But the fact that they say within the week means it is very close and could be any day based on test results.

After talking to them, I think that they are very commited to the Nook and in it for the long haul.

One interesting thing that came out of my talk with them is the level of committment that B&N has for the Nook. You may or may not know that Amazon does not make the Kindle. They contract with another company to design it, manfucature it, and write all of the software for it (I know a few guys there too). But the Nook is being completely done in-house. B&N started a new division, staffed it and are doing the product themselves. These guys are Barnes and Noble employees. Not employees of some behind the scenes OEM.

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Thank you for all the information you have shared with us.   I'm sure that was very interesting to sit in on that meeting and get questions answered by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.   

[Puppy_Dad]

Thanks Sunhawk!

Great update on the software update.  Did the Dev team have any words about the B & N apple app?  We have been using Adobe Digital Edition to side load Seattle Library books into our Nook but can't seem to get the books into the Ipod touch.

[icebike]

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BBBoutique wrote:

Thank you for all the information you have shared with us.   I'm sure that was very interesting to sit in on that meeting and get questions answered by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.   

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Now we are left to wonder why they can answer these questions in some store in California but have no time to tell the CS team or the Admins of this board the same information.

[Sunhawk]

The only thing that I asked about the PDA apps was if there was going to be automatic synching at some point so that my phone would know what i was reading on my Nook and open to the correct page, etc. After some hesitation, they said yes, but not for a while.

As far as your question, no idea - sorry.

[Sunhawk]

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icebike wrote:

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BBBoutique wrote:

Thank you for all the information you have shared with us.   I'm sure that was very interesting to sit in on that meeting and get questions answered by someone who actually knows what they're talking about.   

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Now we are left to wonder why they can answer these questions in some store in California but have no time to tell the CS team or the Admins of this board the same information.

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I commented on that too and said that a little more presence on the board would be nice.

They nodded in agreement but didn't say a whole lot when I said that it seemed like there was a lot more B&N participation a month ago.

But keep in mind that CS guys are not that well connected into the development process (intentionally). They work from scripts and what they are allowed to say is very tightly controlled.

[signal15]

This needs to come out now.  I frequently switch between technical manuals and this thing loses my place and bookmarks are lost when the device reboots or powers down.  It is hands down one of the most frustrating pieces of hardware I've ever purchased.  I frequently dream about smashing the thing into a million pieces and think about what great pleasure that would bring to me. 

I feel like I threw away $259 since I am past the return deadline. I ended up keeping it around because I figured an update would be out soon that would fix the problem, but it's been a month since I received the unit, and nothing.  Making it properly store your current page for each book, and not delete bookmarks should not require a whole huge team of developers to fix, and take over a month.

I was going to buy a second one so my wife and I don't have to share it.  But now I'm thinking I will buy something else since this whole experience has been so terrible.  I sat on hold for over 45 minutes when calling support and ended up just hanging up.  Someone should write a book called "The Nook Debacle:How Not to Bring a Product to Market" and distribute it on the Kindle.

[waggingdogs]

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Sunhawk wrote:

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icebike wrote:

Ohhhh, aren't we prickly this morning!!!

People with English as their first language would have realized I was calling into question THEIR statement, not yours.      

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Sorry - It felt like an attack when all I was trying to do was to give everybody information that I got last night.

The office where these guys work is only a half-an-hour away, so I suspect that most store meetings aren't going to have access to this kind of information. I just wanted to pass it on. There were a little over a dozen people total and around a half-a-dozen of the people present were members of the Nook team. Then there was a young (just) married couple that worked at a B&N store.

BTW - I was born in Colorado and can't even speak any languages besides English  - I keep trying and they don't stick.

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@ sunhawk - thanks so very much for sharing your info, sounds like very good info for us all    and it read like an attack, also

@ icebike - chill out!  these are not your boards alone, and you are not the only keeper of knowledge.  have you ever heard the saying about 'thinking before you open your mouth'???  from a person with english as my first language, engage your brain before you type!