14 DAY TRIAL // The reality at Barnes and Noble seems to be bittersweet. One again, the Nook e-reader is in danger, or rather the ones that placed orders are in danger of not getting their shipment on time. The bookstore chain may still have trouble coping with the demand for the device, prompting the need for some kind of compensation towards customers. Barnes and Noble appears to have done this in two ways.
The book seller announced that it would be shipping Nook gift certificates instead of the actual device, (for those who intended it as a holiday gift) even before the large demand and low inventory prevented the in-store availability of the product. Now that it finds itself once again unable to meet all the orders, Barnes and Noble has begun to issue $100 gift certificates for those who will not receive their gadget on time.
The other issue with the Nook was the variety of small quirks and software issues, which directly impacted on its functionality. The bookstore chain has almost finished work on an update for the device that will, hopefully, fix all the problems, as well as bring a few improvements to speed and usability.
The update will allow the Nook's status bar to display the correct time and the arrow and select buttons will work as intended, no longer exiting to the home screen when tapped. In addition, the correct error message will be displayed when trying to download books that have not yet become available. The update also refines the reading experience through several means. Improvements have been made to startup times, page turning and formatting, as well as to a few other features dealing with quick access, such as automatically accessing the last read page of a book without content reformat.
A specific time frame has not been given for the availability of the software upgrade, although an updated product was reportedly tested. Now, at least, customers who won't get their Nook for Christmas will know that, when they do receive it, it will be free of the less pleasant issues encountered thus far.