The Kindle's use of Sprint for over-the-air downloads has proved speedy and reliable.

This will get the book-lovers, but it could cause them to miss on casual gadget-buyers-the type of people browsing Best Buy. If you want to buy the Nook at a physical store, you have to go to a Barnes & Noble. Maybe it'll grow on me, but I'm not a fan of 'Nook'-and nor were most of the other journalists I polled. These and other restrictions require explanation, and nothing in gadgets should require explanation these days. For example, some books will be available for device-to-device wireless lending, but not others. Where It Goes WrongĪll the fun content seems to be locked up in so many differing restrictions, that it could prove extremely confusing for customers. The Nook isn't launching with an avalanche of any third-party applications (or any, really), but the fact that its software is based on Google's open Android platform means that it would be very easy for Barnes & Noble to turn on that faucet. At the launch event, they showed off a sample of the in-store display they plan on using to show off the device.

Barnes & Noble's hundreds of physical megastores (and college bookstores) give them a huge infrastructure from which to push the Nook. It Takes Advantage of B&N's InfrastructureĪmazon is a virtual retailer.

Barnes and noble nook reader machines