Okay... I'm going to try and be subjective here. But the Nook is not all you suspect it is. I'll lay out what differences I can find because for the most part they are very similar. One thing I'll point out here is the cost. They cost the exact same price Vlad. The Kindle is not more expensive than the Nook. I'll be using a lot of the comparisons on this page as an example. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/compare/
I guess the first one is obviously the biggest difference, the LCD touch screen. It's a pretty novel idea, and I could see people getting it for the "ooh, cool!" feature. But overall, I think it's going to be a detraction from the total reading experience. The Kindle store uses the full e-ink screen, so when you pull up a book you might like you can see the cover, title, description, editorial reviews, and customer reviews all on the same page. From the Nook, you will have to do all your book shopping from a touch screen no wider than two fingers put together. I have an iTouch myself, and I know how much of a pain it is to type on that thing. I can't imagine how it is to type on a screen that's even narrower than an iTouch or iPhone. Not to mention that the touch screen makes the Nook heavier than the Kindle, as well as reducing the battery life to less than the Kindle's. Part of the draw of using e-ink screens is the fact that there is less eye strain than LCD. Well, with the LCD screen tacked onto the bottom of the e-ink screen, that rather negates that advantage. I imagine you can probably turn the LCD screen off somehow, but that's never mentioned in there.
On to the wireless aspect. Well, on that B&N page, it's out of date. The Kindle that currently is being sold does use the AT&T wireless network, the same exact one the Nook uses. The one difference is that nowhere on B&N's website does it say that it uses anything except the 3G network by AT&T. Whereas the Kindle uses the Edge/GRPS network in addition to 3G that is much more widely available. I found a map here where you can compare them... the dark purple is AT&T 3G coverage, while the light purple is AT&T Edge/GRPS coverage. The Nook is dark purple only, while the Kindle is both light and dark purple. http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html Oh, and notice the International tab? The Kindle is now available internationally with wireless. Although some countries still won't allow it to be sold there, and yes, Canada is one of those countries.
The Wi-Fi connection is an interesting idea, but when you think about it... what locations are there that you can have a connection with Wi-Fi that you can't get a connection with a cell phone? Not many that I know of. Also there is no mention of a browser to access the internet (outside of B&N's store) mentioned, and the ability to network directly with other computers on the Wi-Fi is doubtful at best.
On the memory aspect, both the Nook's and Kindle's internal memory can hold over 1500 books. That's a lot of books. LOTS. Yes, you can expand the memory of the Nook using a micro-SD card, but really. Do you need to be able to take seventeen thousand books with you everywhere you go? Most people haven't even read that many books in their lifetime.
Next is content. Barnes and Noble has a million titles available in digital format. But some of the most requested authors aren't available there, same with Amazon's library of Kindle books. And ironically, the book you mention, 1984 from George Orwell is now available in digital format from Amazon.com, but not from Barnes and Noble. For free books, the Kindle can read any free book that the Nook can. ProjetGutenberg.net, MobiPocket free books, etc. For formats, the Kindle naively supports .mobi and .prc both Mobipoket formats, and .txt, the most common format known. The Kindle comes with a conversion option available for many other formats, including .pdf, .html, .doc, .jpeg, .gif, .pmg, and .bmp. The Nook can read Epub and eReader formats, that's a plus for it, but it cannot read word documents or even simple .txt documents. One note about the pdf is that the Nook can read it normally. The Kindle can't, although the Kindle DX can. One thing that having a pdf converted does allow, that having it read natively does not, is for notes and highlights to be added to the pdf. Neither the Nook or the Kindle DX can have that option with the Adobe software installed directly onto the device, but the Kindle can do it with the converted pdf. The conversion only costs if you have it sent wirelessly to the Kindle afterwards, and it is 15 cents per MB. Also, a couple things that the Nook does not have is the ability to do Text-to-Speech that the Kindle can. Also, the Kindle is compatible with audiobooks from Audible.com, while the Nook can't read the audiobooks from B&N.
Under sharing and syncing, both B&N ebooks and Kindle books can be shared between applications on the iPhone or iTouch. The Nook also does Blackberry telephones, PCs, and Macs. There is apparently a Kindle PC application coming out soon too to allow Kindle books to be read on PCs. No word yet on a Mac version. The option to lend books intrigues me, I'm honestly interested to see how that goes. It sounds like a bit of a back-end logistical nightmare, but I hope that it works out.
Under the other features the Nook runs with an Android Operating system, while the Kindle uses Linux. You can try the Nook in a B&N, but once you buy it you're stuck with it. The return policy is that you can return it with 14 days of purchase, but if the Nook has been opened that you will be charged a restocking fee to return it. Sounds bad for people who want to give it as a gift. What if the recipient uses it for a few days and doesn't like it? They're out the restocking fee if they return it within 2 weeks, and it cannot be returned at all afterwards. With the Kindle, it can be returned within 30 days, opened or unopened, for a full refund with no questions asked. Also, I can't find the return policy for the B&N ebooks... but in my experience of trying to return a physical book to a store I can't imagine it's a good one. All Kindle books can be returned within 7 days of purchase, again no questions asked.
I can also tell you for 100% sure that yeah, B&N can remove books from the Nook the same way that Amazon can remove books from the Kindle. When you return a book, it is removed at both companies. Why the Orwell books were removed from all the Kindles is because there were automatic refunds processed for all the customers because Amazon found out that the rights holders Orwell books did not want it sold in a digital format. Also, Amazon admitted they screwed up with that issue and Jeff Bezos put out a personal apology to the people who had their books refunded and offered them the ability to redownload the book complete with all notes, or a 30 dollar GC on their account in addition to the previous refund they already had gotten.
Size wise, the Nook is a little bit smaller overall than the Kindle, but a bit thicker and heavier. The removable battery may seem nice, but a lot of problems with the older version of the Kindle (which had a removable battery) were caused by people pulling out the battery as a troubleshooting step, instead of contacting customer service for help. I get the feeling the Nook is going to climb up the same hill.
And into Customer Service, Barnes and Noble isn't known for having the best service, especially when it comes to returning items. It will be interesting seeing if the Nook has the service behind it to make it competitive with the service at Amazon.
All in all, I think I'd stick with the Kindle. Amazon has 2 years worth of experience working with a device to read e-books and has gotten most of the bumps smoothed out in the process. Yeah, there were a couple kinks along the way, but they handled them and worked out the best option for the customer in the end for every single one. I'm really glad there's more competition coming out for both the Kindle and the Sony e-reader, but I don't think the Nook is the best device available at this time.
I guess the first one is obviously the biggest difference, the LCD touch screen. It's a pretty novel idea, and I could see people getting it for the "ooh, cool!" feature. But overall, I think it's going to be a detraction from the total reading experience. The Kindle store uses the full e-ink screen, so when you pull up a book you might like you can see the cover, title, description, editorial reviews, and customer reviews all on the same page. From the Nook, you will have to do all your book shopping from a touch screen no wider than two fingers put together. I have an iTouch myself, and I know how much of a pain it is to type on that thing. I can't imagine how it is to type on a screen that's even narrower than an iTouch or iPhone. Not to mention that the touch screen makes the Nook heavier than the Kindle, as well as reducing the battery life to less than the Kindle's. Part of the draw of using e-ink screens is the fact that there is less eye strain than LCD. Well, with the LCD screen tacked onto the bottom of the e-ink screen, that rather negates that advantage. I imagine you can probably turn the LCD screen off somehow, but that's never mentioned in there.
On to the wireless aspect. Well, on that B&N page, it's out of date. The Kindle that currently is being sold does use the AT&T wireless network, the same exact one the Nook uses. The one difference is that nowhere on B&N's website does it say that it uses anything except the 3G network by AT&T. Whereas the Kindle uses the Edge/GRPS network in addition to 3G that is much more widely available. I found a map here where you can compare them... the dark purple is AT&T 3G coverage, while the light purple is AT&T Edge/GRPS coverage. The Nook is dark purple only, while the Kindle is both light and dark purple. http://client0.cellmaps.com/tabs.html Oh, and notice the International tab? The Kindle is now available internationally with wireless. Although some countries still won't allow it to be sold there, and yes, Canada is one of those countries.
The Wi-Fi connection is an interesting idea, but when you think about it... what locations are there that you can have a connection with Wi-Fi that you can't get a connection with a cell phone? Not many that I know of. Also there is no mention of a browser to access the internet (outside of B&N's store) mentioned, and the ability to network directly with other computers on the Wi-Fi is doubtful at best.
On the memory aspect, both the Nook's and Kindle's internal memory can hold over 1500 books. That's a lot of books. LOTS. Yes, you can expand the memory of the Nook using a micro-SD card, but really. Do you need to be able to take seventeen thousand books with you everywhere you go? Most people haven't even read that many books in their lifetime.
Next is content. Barnes and Noble has a million titles available in digital format. But some of the most requested authors aren't available there, same with Amazon's library of Kindle books. And ironically, the book you mention, 1984 from George Orwell is now available in digital format from Amazon.com, but not from Barnes and Noble. For free books, the Kindle can read any free book that the Nook can. ProjetGutenberg.net, MobiPocket free books, etc. For formats, the Kindle naively supports .mobi and .prc both Mobipoket formats, and .txt, the most common format known. The Kindle comes with a conversion option available for many other formats, including .pdf, .html, .doc, .jpeg, .gif, .pmg, and .bmp. The Nook can read Epub and eReader formats, that's a plus for it, but it cannot read word documents or even simple .txt documents. One note about the pdf is that the Nook can read it normally. The Kindle can't, although the Kindle DX can. One thing that having a pdf converted does allow, that having it read natively does not, is for notes and highlights to be added to the pdf. Neither the Nook or the Kindle DX can have that option with the Adobe software installed directly onto the device, but the Kindle can do it with the converted pdf. The conversion only costs if you have it sent wirelessly to the Kindle afterwards, and it is 15 cents per MB. Also, a couple things that the Nook does not have is the ability to do Text-to-Speech that the Kindle can. Also, the Kindle is compatible with audiobooks from Audible.com, while the Nook can't read the audiobooks from B&N.
Under sharing and syncing, both B&N ebooks and Kindle books can be shared between applications on the iPhone or iTouch. The Nook also does Blackberry telephones, PCs, and Macs. There is apparently a Kindle PC application coming out soon too to allow Kindle books to be read on PCs. No word yet on a Mac version. The option to lend books intrigues me, I'm honestly interested to see how that goes. It sounds like a bit of a back-end logistical nightmare, but I hope that it works out.
Under the other features the Nook runs with an Android Operating system, while the Kindle uses Linux. You can try the Nook in a B&N, but once you buy it you're stuck with it. The return policy is that you can return it with 14 days of purchase, but if the Nook has been opened that you will be charged a restocking fee to return it. Sounds bad for people who want to give it as a gift. What if the recipient uses it for a few days and doesn't like it? They're out the restocking fee if they return it within 2 weeks, and it cannot be returned at all afterwards. With the Kindle, it can be returned within 30 days, opened or unopened, for a full refund with no questions asked. Also, I can't find the return policy for the B&N ebooks... but in my experience of trying to return a physical book to a store I can't imagine it's a good one. All Kindle books can be returned within 7 days of purchase, again no questions asked.
I can also tell you for 100% sure that yeah, B&N can remove books from the Nook the same way that Amazon can remove books from the Kindle. When you return a book, it is removed at both companies. Why the Orwell books were removed from all the Kindles is because there were automatic refunds processed for all the customers because Amazon found out that the rights holders Orwell books did not want it sold in a digital format. Also, Amazon admitted they screwed up with that issue and Jeff Bezos put out a personal apology to the people who had their books refunded and offered them the ability to redownload the book complete with all notes, or a 30 dollar GC on their account in addition to the previous refund they already had gotten.
Size wise, the Nook is a little bit smaller overall than the Kindle, but a bit thicker and heavier. The removable battery may seem nice, but a lot of problems with the older version of the Kindle (which had a removable battery) were caused by people pulling out the battery as a troubleshooting step, instead of contacting customer service for help. I get the feeling the Nook is going to climb up the same hill.
And into Customer Service, Barnes and Noble isn't known for having the best service, especially when it comes to returning items. It will be interesting seeing if the Nook has the service behind it to make it competitive with the service at Amazon.
All in all, I think I'd stick with the Kindle. Amazon has 2 years worth of experience working with a device to read e-books and has gotten most of the bumps smoothed out in the process. Yeah, there were a couple kinks along the way, but they handled them and worked out the best option for the customer in the end for every single one. I'm really glad there's more competition coming out for both the Kindle and the Sony e-reader, but I don't think the Nook is the best device available at this time.