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About the Author
Steven Heller is the cofounder and the cochair of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts. He writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review and the Graphic Content blog for T-Style; is editor of AIGA Voice; and is a contributor to Design Observer. He is the author, coauthor, and/or editor of more than 120 books on design and popular culture, including the forthcoming New Ornamental Type (Thames and Hudson). More information can be found at his homepage.
 
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Is the Nook for a Schnook?

by Steven Heller
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The image “http://www.wirefresh.com/images/nook-barnes-and-noble.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
 
Dateline: Union Square, New York. This dispatch comes from Daily Heller roving correspondent Rick Meyerowitz.
 
"Went to Barnes and Noble. They had a brand new spiffy area built up in the front of the store to sell Nooks. It looked as if they were attempting to clone the sales look of an Apple store. They had big posters of the Nook, and I saw a bunch of Nooks in the glass cabinet. I was curious--I asked to see one. But they didn't have any.  Instead, the salesgirl handed me a very cheap plastic model of the Nook. It felt as if they'd popped it out of a bubble-plastic template. She told me it was all they had, and that even she hadn't seen a real one yet.
 
"There were six salespeople behind the counter waiting for curious consumers. They were going to take orders if they could. But all they could offer is a flimsy plastic dummy that doesn't do anything. I just held it and stared at it. It may as well have been a photo on a flat sheet of paper.
 
"All that is to preface my delight as I said to the young salesperson, 'Do I look like a Schnook? I'm not going to buy a Nook unless I can hold a real one.'"
 
On a related note. Is Nook (which is a little corner in a house, below), which rhymes with crook, hook, took, and zook, really as good a name as Kindle?
 
The image “http://www.amishdirectfurniture.com/images/400_Corner%20nook.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
 
 

Reader Comments
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Great Post!!
By joe.wendt  November 19, 2009 
Thats very funny ending the story with a Nook. My mom has a little door under her staircase we call a nook. Thanks Steve, great review. Casey Inky Lips Letterpress
By inkylipspress  November 19, 2009 
It sounds like a Dr. Seuss rhyme: In the land of Nook There was a Schnook Who faced a crook that had no Nook.
By designr66  November 19, 2009 
Aw man! No Steven, no. A self-professed nerd, I used to love spending time in the library. I love books. The beautiful worn covers. The smell of the old pages. Hearing the crack of the spine as you wear in a new book. I refuse to even look at the Kindle... or Nook. I will not touch it Sam I am. It's cool, it's hip... don't give a damn.
By Bobbi  November 19, 2009 
Why does Kindle and now Nook think that anyone would want to view e-magazines on a small (make that tiny) black and white (OK 16 gray color scale!) screen? The LCD technology exists for these miniscule little screens that these devices have to easily be in color -- what is the problem??? At least this one is much less expensive than Kindle. I'm sorry but it is going to take a lot more than what Kindle and Nook are offering for me to give up my paper copies!
By twcalhoun  November 19, 2009 
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that was questioning their product name. I have an interior design firm called Nook (nooknyc.com) and think it makes much more sense!
By nooknyc  November 24, 2009 

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