Microsoft Buys Into Nook ~ RIP Nook

Having just bought an eReader (the Sony) and wishing that I had bought a Kindle, I eagerly read about Microsoft putting $300 million into the Nook reader. Microsoft is dead man walking, and everything they have touched eventually turns to crap. They couldn't make a go of their phone. They have lost the internet browser market because of their bullheadedness in integrating it with Windows and trying to rule the computing world with an OS that is bulky, bloated, regressive, poorly designed and made and literally a piece of crap.

Microsoft did have dominance, and they were a world changer, but they couldn't take the news that their paradigm no longer works. And, believing that their dominant position was because of their belief in their own brilliance, they haven't had many successes lately.

They are using wads of cash to stuff into the holes to stop the market-share hemmorage, and they have lost the ability to think strategically and re-invent themselves.

So, I am here today as a prophet to say that Nook the eReader is also dead man walking. Having Microsoft invest in anything remotely successful, is the kiss of death in the marketplace. They will bugger up the OS to try to incorporate Outlook or do something similarly stupid and ruin a good product. They are clutching at straws and applying $300 million dollar bandaid fixes and are going nowhere. They need a total re-invention, and they don't have the balls and creativity to do it.

In the meantime, goodbye to Nook. I never did use you because ebooks are cheaper on Amazon, but I am sure that there will be some folks out there who will be sad to see you go.

Sony eReader Product Review

This isn't about software -- well in a sense it is. It is a product review about the Sony eReader. We are taking a long plane ride and my better half's birthday is on the day that we are taking the trip. She is an avid reader, and I decided to get her an eReader.

According to the online reviews, Kindle is the best, but I am an open source type of guy, and I wanted not to be tied to Amazon. The Kobo eReader has reliability issues according to online reviews, and the Sony one seemed to be the ticket.

I first evaluated the eReader tablet by Sony, where one could check email, and it was slower than molasses in January. I needed WiFi and the Sony eReader with WiFi, Handwriting recognition, a web browser and such seemed to be the ticket.

It is performing as expected however it ain't no Apple when it comes to design. My particular pet peeve is the stylus. My better half loves using the stylus (doesn't get the screen all fingerprinty), however there is a huge design flaw. There is no damn place to store the stylus. The thingie on it that is like the clip of a pen, is too wide to make it stick to the accessory cover that I bought for it. There is no where to clip it to the body of the reader. To me it is sloppy design. The innards work fine.

This makes me appreciate all the more, the beauty in the design of Apple products. They would never let sloppy design like this go by.

Update: I wish that I had bought a Kindle.