One of the first websites to start writing about Barnes and Noble’s Nook eReader was Nook Share

A month before the original Nook was first released back in 2009, Nook Share started writing about it and was one of the few sites out there with information about the Nook for those looking for warranty or other Barnes and Noble information about the product. Eventually, the site began to focus on accessories for the site like nook covers, cases, and lights, but most recently the site has refocused on what you can do on the Nook – specifically the Nook Color, “The Readers Tablet”.

Focus on Content

Nook Share has started focusing on the benefits of the Nook, the top Nook magazines, and the top Nook newspapers. The site has always been ahead of the curve and this pivot towards content like ebooks, magazines, newspapers, and apps for the Nook Color will help give ebook readers what they need now that they’re ‘protected’. I asked writer, Erich Stauffer, what his thoughts were behind the switch and this is what he had to say:

We haven’t given up on covering nook covers, cases, and accessories, we’ve just added more content about what you can do with a Nook helping to answer that question, ‘Why buy a nook?’. You know, the tablet pc market is blowing up and ereaders are going to face more and more competition going forward. We believe in this device and that is why we are helping to promote it’s use, not just what to protect it with.

We look forward to seeing this new focus on content for the Nook going forward and wish Nook Share well in their endeavors. Digitions is a site that covers digital editions of books, magazines, and newspapers. You can follow Digitions using an RSS reader here.

Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Sony are all on the hook with a new rule Apple announced for apps the run on the iOS platform, which includes the iPhone, iPod, and the iPad.  Essentially, if your app sells an e-book, that e-book needs to be sold also – or in some cases instead of – in Apple’s e-book store, part of iTunes.  Additionally, apps that allow you to read books purchased at stores other than Apple’s iTunes may also be subject to these same rules, meaning that if you want to read a book you purchased from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, you can only read it if it is also for sale in iTunes.  This really sounds like Apple is playing the ‘Soup Nazi’ here and if you want to have an app on the iOS you have to follow the rules, or else, “no soup for you.” The question is, how can Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Sony compete in that type of market when they are giving the app away for free and subsidizing the hardware (Kindle, Nook, and Reader, respectively) in order to make money off of e-book purchases?  That is something each company is going to have to figure out on their own.

Barnes & Noble’s new Nook Color ($250) is the first major ebook reader with a color touch screen (Amazon’s Kindle is still black and white with no plans to change soon). It has only been one year since the release of the first (black-and-white) Nook, but already it has gained market share and features, which Barnes & Noble says is due to former Palm employees designing it out of a new shop in Silicon Valley.

The color screen is bright and beautiful. Magazines, for example, look spectacular. You can subscribe to any of 70 magazines (the first two weeks are free) or buy individual issues. Some magazines even have an Article View: a scrolling, vertical, uncluttered column of black-on-white text that’s easy to read. The original magazine layout lies behind it for context.

Children’s books also benefit enormously from color, and they get special treatment on the Color Nook. You can tap the text on any page to enlarge it. Some titles — 300 by year’s end, according to Barnes & Noble — offer a ‘Read to Me’ button, so that your young reader can follow along with a recorded voice. This raises the question, “Was the Nook Color specifically designed for kids?” We may never know, but we know that if you can get a child used to a technology young, you’ll have a customer for life.

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