Kindle vs. Nook

[Laura Gardner]

I need some quick assistance if possible! My district is considering purchasing me some ereaders for use with a book club at my middle school. At first they were thinking Kindle, but apparently Amazon won't accept a purchase order as payment? Now they're thinking Nook. Here's my questions:

*I know it's possible to purchase an ebook and put it on 6 Kindles. Is it possible to share an ebook between multiple Nooks? (the sharing option on the Nook expires after 2 weeks, I believe).

*Also, how many of you have students who regularly use the Text to Speech option on the Kindle? I know it's not available on the Nook.

Thank you!! I really appreciate quick answers on this. The district is looking to spend the $$ very soon.

Laura

[Erika Rossman]

I honestly thought that purchasing Kindles for my classroom was the way I was going to go, but after reading your thoughts, I am not so sure anymore! Is there anyone who would be willing to try to sway me one way or the other: Kindle or Nook?

[Will DeLamater]

Erika, stay tuned for the B&N announcement today about the Nook. May be useful. The key difference is that the Nook does operate in the world of ePub, which is the emerging ebook format around the world. Amazon keeps the Kindle rather tightly controlled, but by doing so they offer a superior user experience, although that "user" is an individual consumer, not a school. I think you are right to look hard at this issue. I also think that the Android tablets coming out (see the Cruz at Border's website) look pretty sweet as well. Let us know your thinking!

Erika Rossman said:

I honestly thought that purchasing Kindles for my classroom was the way I was going to go, but after reading your thoughts, I am not so sure anymore! Is there anyone who would be willing to try to sway me one way or the other: Kindle or Nook?

[Kathy M Burnette]

I am a huge advocate of the Kindle since it has better magazines and newspapers and it's easier to bookmark webpages for teachers. I also find it easier to use for groups of students because you can print a notes/highlights page and bring it to the meeting. The nook, as of right now, does not have that capability.

I would, however, wait until The Nook update next month, as well as the BN announcement, later today.

That said, make sure that whichever you use has password protection.

Erika Rossman said:

I honestly thought that purchasing Kindles for my classroom was the way I was going to go, but after reading your thoughts, I am not so sure anymore! Is there anyone who would be willing to try to sway me one way or the other: Kindle or Nook?

[Erika Rossman]

Hi everyone,

I just found this article which says that Amazon has added this "lending" feature to the Kindle.
Kindle Article
Erika


Laurie Aldern said:

Hi Linn,

You can share 1 book with 6 NOOKs. It's the Lending feature that expires after 2 weeks...you can loan a book to a friend with a NOOK, (or with the NOOK app - say on their iPhone or computer-) they can read it for 2 weeks and then it returns to you. But as far as books you've purchased, you can have 6 NOOKs on every account, and each of the 6 can share a single title forever.

You've already read my post on using MP3 audio books in conjunction with eBooks, but for the good of the masses, here it is again:

I wanted to add a thought about using NOOK as a text reader... You can load both the eBook and the MP3 version of a book onto your NOOK for read-along capability. The great thing about the MP3 versions is that they're read by humans rather than computer generated, so you get inflection and emotion.

If you'd like to test it out, start by loading a free eBook and audio book. I recently added Dickens' The Christmas Carol to my NOOK and found it was quite easy to follow along and turn pages in sync with the recording.

You can access free books on your NOOK, or there are public domain books here:
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Children

It's also possible to create your own audio books if you have the right recording software. A Google search turned up quite a few results for free MP3 recording software. Imagine younger kids following the text while their mom's voice reads the book!

[Laurie Aldern]

Well, I want to state up front how much I appreciate being allowed to have a voice on this forum. Of course I'm biased, but since you asked :) I'll give you a couple of reasons more for NOOK...First, In-store support is huge. You can call any store or just walk in with NOOK in hand and our staff is prepared to help you 7 days a week. We offer on-going classes as well. The second factor that sometimes is overlooked is the fact that NOOK batteries are replaceable, by you, for about $30 and no hassle. Kindles need to be sent in to Amazon for a battery replacement. Then there's our list of 2 million titles...still growing. And the ability to borrow from your local library (using the Overdrive system, which most eBook lending libraries subscribe to). Hmm. There's more, but I'll stop for now.

Erika Rossman said:

I honestly thought that purchasing Kindles for my classroom was the way I was going to go, but after reading your thoughts, I am not so sure anymore! Is there anyone who would be willing to try to sway me one way or the other: Kindle or Nook?

[Rita Ann Thompson]

Question for everyone please: Is it true that the Kindle offers many FREE ebooks that can be downloaded, many of which are classics, however the Nook does not offer any FREE downloadable books at all from their site? I had a NOOK rep out and they told me you can download books from websites, but not from B&N. But when I looked at the kindle, there were many free downloadable books. Is this true? That would be a BIG difference point, I think and I would hate to be wrong about that. Thanks!

[Will DeLamater]

Rita Ann, I can tell you that you can download as many free books for the Nook from places like Project Gutenberg as you can for the Kindle. I don't know what the BN policy is for offering them through their store is, but if anything there are more free books available for the Nook (because it support the ePub format) than there are for the Kindle. I can give you more details--just message me.

Rita Ann Thompson said:

Question for everyone please: Is it true that the Kindle offers many FREE ebooks that can be downloaded, many of which are classics, however the Nook does not offer any FREE downloadable books at all from their site? I had a NOOK rep out and they told me you can download books from websites, but not from B&N. But when I looked at the kindle, there were many free downloadable books. Is this true? That would be a BIG difference point, I think and I would hate to be wrong about that. Thanks!

[Kathy M Burnette]

I have about 40 free BN classics! they did some special Friday Freebies that were their own version of the classic. You can do a search "barnes and noble classic series 0.00" to find them. Each week they offer free books then Amazon tries to match them. I love the versions on the Nook.

Rita Ann Thompson said:

Question for everyone please: Is it true that the Kindle offers many FREE ebooks that can be downloaded, many of which are classics, however the Nook does not offer any FREE downloadable books at all from their site? I had a NOOK rep out and they told me you can download books from websites, but not from B&N. But when I looked at the kindle, there were many free downloadable books. Is this true? That would be a BIG difference point, I think and I would hate to be wrong about that. Thanks!

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[Karen Anderson]

I just checked out the BooksShouldBeFree link and I think it's great! Browsing for books is half of the fun, but some of the free sites do not really do a good job of it.

[Laurie Aldern]

Hmm, not sure why you were told you couldn't download free books from B&N. As others have said, from the NOOK you just type in $0.00 to find the free books (tons of public domain books, pages and pages of popular titles, and then occasional offerings to NOOK owners all year long.) You can also browse from your computer: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/Free-eBooks/379001668/?cds2Pid=3594..., and then of course there are all the free books available through other websites. You can also sample books for an hour for free while you're in a BN store.

Rita Ann Thompson said:

Question for everyone please: Is it true that the Kindle offers many FREE ebooks that can be downloaded, many of which are classics, however the Nook does not offer any FREE downloadable books at all from their site? I had a NOOK rep out and they told me you can download books from websites, but not from B&N. But when I looked at the kindle, there were many free downloadable books. Is this true? That would be a BIG difference point, I think and I would hate to be wrong about that. Thanks!

[Theresa Reagan]

What an incredible group of sharing minds this has become! Thank you to everyone for responding to this query so people like me can learn from all of you as we prepare to take this next leap into the newest educational tech tool.

[Robin Sowder]

What great information. I have been considering a Nook on a personal level, but also want to consider writing a grant for Nooks for my school library. Ideas about available grants? I know my vendors like Follett are starting to offer ebooks for download. Please share your thoughts. Thanks Robin a new member.