Comments on: Amazon ‘Give As A Gift’ Feature = Nook Advantage

By: Dex

Dex — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:57:24 +0000

This article is obviously written by someone who is ill-informed or has a clear bias for Nook and/or B&N. From someone who has both the Kindle and the Nook in the household, and who uses both devices and companies from a reader’s perspetive as well as a publishers, I give a slight advantage to Kindle. Even though I have to use a different e-Book format (PRC) to publish on Amazon, the ability to give a specific book as a gift is a serious advantage. My wife, who uses the Nook, asked for a Nook book for Christmas, and was disappointed to learn that I could only give her a gift card instead of a specific title, which she said seems less personal. I agree. However, the gift option via Amazon is even more critical from a publisher’s perspective because it allows me to run promotions and send the books to the recipient directly from Amazon complete with DRM protection so that I don’t end up with people copying my e-Book files and posting them for consumption. I give Amazon this tip of the hat grudgingly, because I do not agree with the fascist manner in which they have restricted author postingings in their forums (which B&N doesn’t even have directly in their site); but that is another story.

By: Chris Cardinal

Chris Cardinal — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:57:46 +0000

Likewise, these limitations exist for Nook “lending” as well.

See: http://gizmodo.com/5388168/dont-get-too-excited-about-the-nooks-lending-feature

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:33:10 +0000

I appreciate the comment. Yes, Amazon very recently added a book sharing feature, but that too has its limitations. For example, the publishers of the e-books are the ones who decide whether they can be shared or not. Plus, the sharing system only allows you to lend a book for 14 days before it must be “returned.” I guess it is less of a criticism of the Kindle book gifting feature and more of an observation that Amazon has been lagging behind, not to mention acting like the gift giving feature is some incredibly unique and fresh idea. The only reason it works is because e-books are one of the only gifts you can literally email to someone.

By: Cara

Cara — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 00:26:16 +0000

Amazon does have a book lending feature. And you can read content from many other sites. And, if the recipient doesn’t like the ebook you thoughtfully picked out for them, they can return it for credit and buy something else, just like any other book you might buy for someone.

While each ereader on the market has its advantages and limitations, I fail to see how being able to gift a Kindle book can be criticised.