Barnes & Noble's EBook Reader

While the world prepares for Windows 7 with thousands of Windows 7 Launch Parties across the World, Gizmodo got the scoop on Barnes & Nobel's own launch party. The EBook reader, Nook.

B&N has taken a pretty cool approach to the problem of how to combine the versatility and vibrant color of the iPhone touch screen with the black and white electronic paper screen. This is a big problem for mass production. Electronic paper technologies are, for the most part, black and white which works great for reading but kind of sucks in terms of interaction. In addition, electronic paper isn't very touch enabled - not yet - so you can't do a whole lot with it in terms of interaction. At the same time the beautiful high-resolution touch screens on a devices like the iPhone are too hard on the eyes when it comes to reading.

How do you get the readability of electronic paper with the versatility of a touch screen? B&N simply put the touch screen for menus and text entry under the electronic paper screen. Duh! I love a simple solution to a difficult problem and this is one of them. It seems so obvious in hind-sight, but I'll bet most people never thought of it - I didn't.

So what does this combination give you? Pretty much everything you need for a great eReader. First, you have the versatility and programmable capabilities of a touch screen - which B&N can update and enhance as easily as Apple does its iTouch and iPhone. Second you get the low-power consumption and easy-on-they-eyes electronic paper screen for hours of reading enjoyment.

The only disadvantage of this is that the touch manipulations are indirect - you are not manipulating the content directly with your fingers. Of course, given the close proximity of the touch screen to the electronic paper screen it probably doesn't matter much. Once multi-touch color electronic paper screens are available this solution will seem pretty antiquated, but for now this is a an awesome solution to a difficult problem.

But that's only the half of it - the great design extends to the service as well. B&N, according to a story at wired, might be heavily discounting titles for their eReader. In addition, B&N may make it possible for people to share or even resell their books to others - just like you can with real books. If they can do those two things, than I think people will really sit up and take notice.