What is the incentive to switch to Nook from Kindle2?

[McQ14]

I want to ask a what if type question. What if I own a Kindle2, and I think that I may want to make the jump to the Nook? What's the incentive for someone who has a Kindle library full of books?

Won't I just have to repurchase all of those books again for Nook?

I ask because I do have a Kindle2, and the Nook looks interesting. But there's no way I'd switch to it if the ebooks I've already bought (also have a ton of Stanza and Project Gutenberg books [ok, those are free]) are not able to be transferred to the Nook.

Is there a way to do those transfers? Legally?

[cmassa]

not legally, it is possible but the DRM needs to be removed first.

[nikolawannabe]

Stanza and Project Gutenberg books which are in ePub or pdf will work fine on your nook. 

Any books you have bought from Amazon will stay with your Kindle.  At this point you cannot transfer them because they are locked with Amazon's proprietary DRM.  The Nook's developers couldn't implement their copy protection (legally) if they wanted to.

(And as an aside, even illegally the process is a wreck.  Don't bother to waste your time pondering where it would be worth it to try and work it out.  Developers have a hard time with it.  Besides, it's against the DMCA.)

As an owner of a Kindle, switching to the Nook would be a loss for you content-wise.  However, you should keep in mind that that is exactly what Amazon had in mind when they chose to use proprietary DRM.  B&N's DRM is owned by a 3rd party which can license it to any hardware maker they want.  By switching to a nook, you open up your book sources considerably, and hop on the bandwagon of a new format that every other major ebook seller is supporting. In addition when new epub readers come out, your new B&N content should be able to switch to them without trouble.

You also get a cooler devices and shiny lending features.  That's it.

[efigalaxie]

Any copy protection can be defeated. I do not give a fig for the DMCA - an over-reaching piece of crap legislation made by people who had no clue. If I buy content, that copy of the content is mine. If I want to circumvent the DRM to get to it in the privacy of my home..what are they going to do??? The answer to this is if you are happy with what you have...keep it. If you want to jump to nook, you will have to sacrifice any Amazon DRM titles unless you can get by amazon's DRM. If you have only bought a few such books, then go for it. If you have 500 books on it, you may wish to stay where you are. I have been waiting specifically for something more open to arrive. This is a step in the right direction and may meet my needs...I am considering it ever so much.

[fcoulter32724]

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nikolawannabe wrote:

Stanza and Project Gutenberg books which are in ePub or pdf will work fine on your nook. 

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Stanza and Project Gutenberg books which are in mobi format for your Kindle can be easily converted to ePub which should work fine on your nook.

If you've purchased anything from Oreilly or Baen, you can either convert the downloaded book or download it again in a format that works on the Nook rather than the Kindle.  (Actually, I'm not sure you can download the eBook again from Oreilly.  I know you can download it again from Baen.)

As an aside, Baen and Oreilly have been selling books without DRM.  I wonder why they're not worrying about piracy?  Are they just stupid?  Or is it less of an issue than B&N and Amazon think it is?  Heck, even Apple has given up on DRM.

(Actually, Baen is giving away a lot of ebooks in multiple formats which work on Sony and Kindle readers and should work on Nooks - we won't know for sure about the Nook for another month or so.  They claim that giving away the books has increased their sales of the printed versions of the same books, as well as increasing ebook sales of the ebooks they sell.)

[nikolawannabe]

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fcoulter32724 wrote:

As an aside, Baen and Oreilly have been selling books without DRM.  I wonder why they're not worrying about piracy?  Are they just stupid?  Or is it less of an issue than B&N and Amazon think it is?  Heck, even Apple has given up on DRM.

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DRM is a non-issue when it comes to piracy. People who want to pirate books have plenty of experience in breaking the DRM, and it is literally impossible to prevent them from doing it because anyone who can *view* a book can pirate it. And if you can't view it, you can't read it.  Ultimately there is no way to prevent piracy on digital resources.

DRM is used to prevent the publishers from freaking out over making their content distributable.  Once they realize that they are going to sell a crap-ton of books at very high margins, they will stop worrying about piracy and the DRM will go away, exactly the same as it has for mp3s.  So long as the distribution system for paid content is better than the system for pirated, they will sell books.

DRM at this point is nothing but a hindrance to legitimate customers, because it makes it very difficult and confusing for them.  If a customer is turned off of buying ebooks because he loses all his books when he moves to a new device, that is bad for the ebook industry.  Many experienced or savvy distributors have realized this and have managed to convince their publishers of this, and that's why their content has no DRM.

[McQ14]

Thank you so much for this answer. Actually, thanks to everyone who had information. But this is exactly the information I was hoping to find out. It is especially good to understand that I will essentially only lose Kindle content I bought via Amazon. I do have quite a few Stanza books and tons of Project Gutenberg books on my iPhone, Desktop, and Kindle, so I wont lose those. I may lose a dozen books total, which isn't terrible.

The thought of the 3rd party DRM is really appealing and is one of several factors that will figure in to a switch to Nook.

Thanks again for your help! Much appreciated!

[lilio]

In the meantime, keep your Kindle.  When you want access to oneof the books you purchased from Amazon, use the Kindle and add new content to nook.  Sounds like some of this is a waiting game - the system of distribution is evolving so much that you may be able to move your Kindle books some time in the future. I may be off base, but just a thought

[ps56k]

getting back to the original question - incentive for Nook -

As others have mentioned, the Kindle uses it's own file format + own DRM. 

The nook uses the Adobe Digital Editions suite, and therefore opens that door.   One of the major things I'm waiting to see actually announced, tested, and verified - is the ability to use local virtual libraries such as Overdrive.   Even though our virtual library has a very very limited selection of ebooks on Overdrive, hopefully this will change with time and more xmas presents.  The nook has the support for this, the Kindle does not.

[nickels]

I mentioned in another thread that you can download your kindle books to your PC where the files sit in your My Documents folder. Just install Kindle for PC and download your library.  It is only a matter of time till there is software to strip the DRM (already possible if you own a Kindle) and reformat the file to work on the nook. You can do it already, but it isn't easy. I'm sure there will be a simple solution soon.

[joeypore]

Honestly, I don't think there really is an incentive to swtich.

And yes, you will have to re-purchase your books if you want them on the Nook and to be fully functional [notes, annotations, etc]. There are no other legal options.

[KevinCK]

I hate to say it like this, but I can't see any real benefits to switching from kindle to nook. Now that the kindle has a new software update allowing native pdf support and landscape viewing, the only thing I see that the nook can do which the kindle can't is (a) support epub files, and (b) allow readers to loan a book from one nook to another (once per book; of course, the kindle allows up to four kindles to read any one book from the same account). The kindle, on the other hand, can do a host of things the nook can't do, including basic web browsing, reading books to you, and allowing you to annotate on files that are not purchased from amazon.

So, I am simply not convinced that the nook can really do anything the kindle can't do.

[SkeeterW]

KevinCK, I have to agree with you.  I just ordered my kindle also.  The main reason was book prices though.  Having said that, I just noticed Barnes & Noble has been busy lowering all their ebook prices.  I'm happy for that!  I still have 14 days to change my mind.  Looks like the Amazon inventory is better for now, but I see that changing too I imagine.  I can see getting a nook nook later when the stock is better if the wife takes a shine to the ereader thing in general.  The nook is a good product.  In some ways better.  I don't really have an issue with either.  I could have gone either way.  With a nook and a kindle, we can have our cake and eat it too.  I do think in a year or two, we will have ereaders out there for $100.   Which is good since they probably won't last more than 3 to five years anyways.   Hmmm, books last forever...lol

[karmamule]

As someone who already owns a Kindle and nevertheless has a nook on order, here are my reasons:

- I have a Kindle DX, and while it's large screen has many advantages it makes it awkward for commuting or in other situations where you want to hold it with one hand.  I could have got a Kindle 2 but figured I'd cross platforms so I could have the best of both worlds, and never have to worry if either Amazon or B&N had a book I wanted, or who has it cheaper. 

- Take advantage of the B&N niceties like reading e-books in their stores for free, getting B&N coupons through nook (I do still read the occasional paper-based book still!), and having a broader range of file formats to work with.

- Gadget addiction: ok, this is probably a major reason for me: the sheer joy of playing with new gadgets, even if they greatly overlap something I already own.  Nook's supplemental LCD screen with touch capabilities looks like it could be great fun to play with, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford it.

I have to admit the third reason is probably the largest contributing factor. 

[Sunltcloud]

Skeeter, you said that "books last forever." As someone with a large library that includes books I bought fifty years ago, let me tell you that, yes, most have lasted, but many of the paperbacks are falling apart as I pull them from the shelf.

I guess we win some, lose some - with new technologies popping up all the time, we constantly have to update our electronic storage and I have lost a few files going from diskettes to CDs to SD cards and external hard drives etc. And if I look at the spoken word or music, I've lost some of my mother's reel to reel poetry, because I failed to transfer it into a different audio file format. And though you might argue that words last forever, they too become lost when they are attached to one particular experience.

Change is good; it keeps us on our toes. I own a kindle and soon I will own nook - life goes on - new words are added, new books published, new music orchestrated. Enjoy the ride!

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SkeeterW wrote:

KevinCK, I have to agree with you.  I just ordered my kindle also.  The main reason was book prices though.  Having said that, I just noticed Barnes & Noble has been busy lowering all their ebook prices.  I'm happy for that!  I still have 14 days to change my mind.  Looks like the Amazon inventory is better for now, but I see that changing too I imagine.  I can see getting a nook nook later when the stock is better if the wife takes a shine to the ereader thing in general.  The nook is a good product.  In some ways better.  I don't really have an issue with either.  I could have gone either way.  With a nook and a kindle, we can have our cake and eat it too.  I do think in a year or two, we will have ereaders out there for $100.   Which is good since they probably won't last more than 3 to five years anyways.   Hmmm, books last forever...lol

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[athenagwis]

I will not be switching, I will happily own both.  I just can't believe I have room in my home for two full libraries!  But seriously, owning both gives me the features and benefits that both have currently and in the future.  It also gives me the chance to pick which store has the lowest price on the book I want to read.  I can just switch out which one I carry with me depending on what I am reading at the time.