@iPhoneMessenger Yeah. The Spring Design thing looked awful - not just ugly, but a big mess that would have been difficult to use and contained unnecessary features - and although there is clearly a similarity, it's only really in that both designs have a touchscreen plus an e-ink display. (The OS is maybe the same too but really, that doesn't matter a damn.)

That might be an idea that got stolen but it could just as easily be an idea that both companies (and probably other people) had independently, before B and N saw the Spring Design prototype.

Nook looks really good and I hope that legal restrictions from either party don't impair the chances of other touchscreen-plus-eink readers. Ideally, readers probably wouldn't need a separate touchscreen, but at the moment a small display seems like a nice compromise (and a lot better than a keyboard).

@Paul It's not that bad - about an hour per TB, which seems reasonable. Transferring photos from a full camera card (I'm talking 16GB not 2TB) can already take about an hour on my system, not all of which is transfer (a lot of processing involved in format conversion etc). At the end of a day's photography, waiting an hour is not that big a deal.

The 300MB transfer is probably an aspiration rather than reality - but so, certainly, is the 2TB, so it balances out...

@strommsarnac Is this the same kind of 'proven' that's proven vaccines kill your kids, global warming doesn't exist / is caused by sunspots / is a slow-action alien death ray, and cigarettes are good for you? Governments are covering those up too! Don't forget your tinfoil hat, it works against CFLs too.

CFLs are available in a range of colour temperatures; I like the bright 'daylight' kind, not the grungey yellowed 'looks like incandescent' flavour. LED lighting will be even better due to the instant-on (although in lots of situations I kind of prefer the CFL fade-up), more widespread dimmer support, and new form factors, but it's not ready for prime time yet in terms of price and efficiency (outside the lab).

I definitely am glad to see companies working on the early technology though. That's how these things improve.

@sweet greggo: The product doesn't start with an 'i', it's called Story. And iriver have been using that brand name for quite a long time now; according to Wikipedia, since before the iPod was launched. Think they're going to sue Apple?

As for this device though - I have to say, I've come to expect quality and sometimes original industrial design from iriver (never owned one of their products, but they usually look good - especially those old Toblerone mp3 players really caught my eye). This is not only not original (duh) but it also looks... well... I guess it's okay... but not as good as Kindle. Okay, looking worse than Kindle isn't as much of a challenge as it was in Kindle 1 days, but still, looking *better* than Kindle 2 shouldn't be that hard.

Also - keyboards in ebook readers? Just say no. I know touch panels over the eink screen suck as well; that's why, hello, Nook. And without wifi (so no inbuilt shop on the device), frankly you could do without any kind of keyboard or advanced input anyway.

Just me who didn't have any problem with DS Lite buttons (disclaimer: never played a GBA game on it) or the power switch? I mean, yeah you have to slide it, doesn't seem all that much of a challenge...

I'm tempted to get a DSi but so far the games haven't really made it a priority.

Or to play 'em and accept you'll have to pay for 'em.

I'm in same position - well I can switch eyes but don't really see through both at once, except for 'edge' vision. 3D generally doesn't do anything for me.

As far as I heard, it's the same deal as the first one (and I think if it was significantly improved we'd have heard about it), so I'd go for the $4 option.

Maybe that price drop just took it below some 'too expensive' threshold, so other factors come into play and people are realising - (a) it's not too expensive any more, (b) it's got some good games by now even if you don't like shooters, (c) FF13 is coming out soon...

I expect it'll stay above or at least around the Wii from now on (excepting peaks for major releases).

Yes, they're good, but these are just launch sales. It is pretty impressive though that it sold that much without even making a major dent in regular DSi sales. It'll be interesting to see whether it settles down alongside DSi, or down with DS Lite and PSP Go.

I still don't really understand who's buying it :) It can't just be old people, but... I mean, I play my DS (Lite) pretty much exclusively at home, so portability doesn't much matter, but I don't remember ever thinking 'hmm this screen is too small to see' - and it kind of looks like the X/LL would be a bit big to hold comfortably, unless you put it on a table.

Also, kind of a missed opportunity that they didn't call it DSi Phat.

Like everyone else I hope there will be a 'real' DS2 next year...