Archive | eBooks RSS feed for this section

Reader Rocket Aims to Easily Compare eBook Readers

Despite many predictions to the contrary, eBook readers are still going strong. They may not be as flashy as tablets, but they are great devices with long battery lives, clear readable screens, and lightweight both in size and on your wallet. Most people tend to pick an eBook reader based on their bookstore preferences, what [...]

Read More 3 Comments

Barnes & Noble Has Forgotten What Makes the NOOK Interesting

Hey, want to buy a NOOK? Barnes & Noble would very much like it if you did. That’s not surprising — they’re fighting hard for marketshare in an increasingly crowded market. But hot on the heels of their “buy a tablet, get an eBook reader!” bizarre promotion, they’ve been reminding everyone of another reason to [...]

Read More 4 Comments

Is an eBook a Book, or Is It Something Else?

The fine folks at Forbes raised an interesting question this week: are eBooks really books? Their take is that eBooks are more like software, due to their digital nature. And yes, they are looking specifically at the education markets. But this touches on a larger debate, one that comes up quite often. Opponents of eBooks [...]

Read More 4 Comments

Why Barnes and Noble’s Store Shutdowns Are Not The Real Danger Sign

In the Harry Potter books, Voldemort’s symbol appears above the houses of wizards who have been marked for death. Lately, it seems like Barnes and Noble’s stores have the Dark Mark over them. No matter what the company says or does, the news is always greeted with the same reaction: DOOM! The latest round of [...]

Read More 3 Comments

Ways To Read More In 2013 On Any Budget!

  I love books. I know I am slightly biased, being a former bookstore employee, but I like to think that most people like reading books. The hard part is finding books you want to read. Maybe you can’t find the right authors, or books have gotten too pricey, or you haven’t made the leap [...]

Read More 2 Comments

Byook Enhanced eBooks Review

Various developers have been trying since the original iPad to make enhanced and video eBooks a success. There seems to be this impression that books+tablet+video=profit! Yet plain old eBooks have managed to hold their ground quite nicely, leaving the question of whether there’s really a market for a book with video, music, and other bells [...]

Read More 2 Comments

Barnes and Noble’s Very Clever eBook Gifting Promotion

I’ve said for a long time that Barnes and Noble’s key to success in the ebook world was through their retail channels. The more they find ways to leverage the advantage of being both the neighborhood store AND an instant gratification web presence, the better they will be able to compete with Amazon. It looks [...]

Read More 1 Comment

Are eTextbooks Fully Baked Yet?

Digital textbooks always sound like a great idea on paper. They save money! And children don’t struggle under the weight of giant books! What’s not to like? Well, there’s the medium for reading on them for starters. Kindles crashed and burned on the college level, and while iPads are great, they are also expensive and [...]

Read More 1 Comment

B&N Slashes The NOOK Simple Touch Reader Prices

We are three weeks from Christmas, and B&N is trying to make your shopping even easier. They have slashed the price of the NOOK Simple Touch Reader to a jaw-dropping $79! This is a very impressive price for a small, touchscreen ereader. This does make me wonder just how low prices will go. Who will [...]

Read More 1 Comment

Barnes and Noble Finally Steps Up!

Looks like Barnes and Noble finally got the kinks worked out of their eReader/Fictionwise transition! A few days ago I saw reports that the transfer links were finally working properly, and sure enough, clicking through promised me a forthcoming email with more details. This time, the message didn’t come with a side of time travel, [...]

Read More 4 Comments

Amazon Steals Toddler’s Loyalty Forever With “Kindle FreeTime Unlimited”

My social circle is of the age where we are past the “weddings” phase and have moved into the “babies” phase. As a result, I have had the chance to observe how toddlers and young children interact with technology. All of my friends kids love playing with iPhones and tablets, and they seem to instinctively [...]

Read More 0 Comments

Barnes and Noble and the Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Fictionwise Shutdown

The Barnes and Noble transition of Fictionwise and eReader to NOOK has been steadily going from bad to worse. First, they had difficulties moving books to the NOOK platform. Then, a huge swath of customers (including both Judie and I) received an error message that our email addresses were not recognized. The Thanksgiving holiday intervened, [...]

Read More 6 Comments

Barnes and Noble’s Epic Fictionwise and eReader Migration Failure

I am insanely disappointed in Barnes and Noble. Earlier this week, news broke that they were shutting down the long-running eReader.com and Fictionwise.com sites they purchased three years ago, and offering to transition as many books as eligible to matching NOOK accounts. So far, so good. Then, the day after it became big news, they [...]

Read More 16 Comments

R.I.P., Fictionwise and eReader

This has been a long time coming, but Barnes and Noble is finally putting Fictionwise and eReader out to pasture. They purchased the sites three years ago, and from that purchase the NOOK was born. But now that the NOOK clearly outshines its older siblings, Barnes and Noble apparently feels there isn’t a benefit to [...]

Read More 7 Comments

Gear Diary eReaders Guide

It’s the holiday season, and that means you’re on the hunt for the perfect gift for a loved one. If your giftee is a big reader, maybe you plan to get them a dedicated eBook reader or tablet this year. After all, prices have dropped and specifications have gotten better and better. But which one [...]

Read More 5 Comments


Live Score Tennis for iOS Ready for the 2013 French Open

For you tennis aficionados out there, the 2013 French Open is nearly upon us, and if you are gainfully employed [...]

Sony NEX-6 Smart Remote Control in 90 Seconds

I upgraded my camera to the Sony NEX-6 today, and I am already loving it. At $899 for the body [...]

Budd Coates Teaches ‘Running On Air’ – The Monday Mile

Running on Air

I remember being about 20 miles into my first marathon, and the pacer making a very big deal about breathing [...]

Kinivo BTX350 Digital Wireless Speaker Review

I’m a big fan of Bluetooth enabled, wireless speakers in this age of cell phones, tablets, and computers.  We’re always [...]

Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition Amazon Exclusive Deals

EA Sports, Amazon, and DirecTV have released details on great deals included in the upcoming limited-edition version of the Madden [...]

team & marke Launches Fläzbag Tablet Pillow Stand

I don’t know about you, but when I think of “products from Germany”, I think of severe stuff, by and [...]