Adobe is the leader in eInk technology for most eBook readers such as Barns & Noble’s Nook and for Amazon’s Kindle. Adobe also has a nifty piece of software called Adobe Digital Editions. This is used to manage your ePub eBooks, and to transfer them to your nook.

UPDATED AS OF Jan 10, 2012

STEP 01 – Get software from Adobe

1. If you do not already have one, sign up for an Adobe account.
2. Download Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). [download link]
3. Install ADE, but do not launch it just yet. If it automatically launches, then quit the software.

STEP 02 – Connect your device to your computer and to the software

1. Using the Nook’s USB cable, connect your Nook to your computer.
2. Launch Adobe Digital Editions. (I found that if you launch ADE first, and then plug in your Nook, ADE does not see the Nook.)
3. Log in with your Adobe account.  To Deathorize Adobe Digital Editions from your Computer, use the keystroke of Command-Shift-D (or Control-Shift for Windows).
4. Say “yes” when asked if you want your connected device to be associated with the software. To Deathorize Adobe Digital Editions from your Nook, use the keystroke of Command-Shift-E (or Control-Shift for Windows).

STEP 03 – Find your resources to get eBooks

Okay, if you’ve got this far, terrific! You now know that your Nook is connected to ADE and you can manage your eBooks using your personal computer. Whether you download books as rentals from your library, or from other eBook resources, you will most likely need to create user accounts. My local library provided me with my library card number and PIN. My county (Bucks County, in North East Pennsylvania) connects with OverDrive. Access to your library may vary depending on your location and library’s resources. Not all libraries connect with OverDrive, and some have their own eBook solutions. Please consult with your librarian, or read the FAQs from the links here in this section.

1. OverDrive.com is a commonly used resource for many libraries [link]
2. eReader.com also offers eBooks [link]
3. NetLibrary World Public Library is also a good resource [link]

STEP 04 – Download and transfer your eBooks onto your device

Once you’ve chosen a source to obtain your eBooks, be sure you can use the ePub format. This will allow for text resizing and other simple reading features.

1. Downloaded your eBooks to a location on your computer where you can easily access and find them. I’ve created an eBook folder inside my Documents folder. They seem to like it there.
2. Be sure that your Nook is connected to your personal computer before you launch ADE. (As mentioned before, if it is not showing up, quit ADE, and be sure your Nook is powered on, connected to your computer, and is showing up as an external device.)
3. In ADE, choose the “LIbrary” menu item and locate your eBooks to load them into your library. You can also use the Command-O (for Open?). Find these in your eBooks directory of your computer.
4. Once you have transferred your eBooks to ADE, you can now drag and drop them to your Nook. (Video coming soon).

I hope that these instructions helps you. I’ve tested it a few time and made sure that my steps can be followed with little problems.

ENJOY!

A few notes

eBOOK FILE FORMATS:
PDF – Adobe’s document format, but does not allow for text scalling
ePub – An “Open Standard” – preferred if you want to change text size and adjust other styling
Be sure to eject your Nook properly after you have transfered your files. I made the mistake of just yanking the cord, and was not able to re-mount my nook until I called B&N Tech support.
Adobe Digital Editions is not the only way to get your books onto your Nook. You can also simply drag and drop them onto the USB mounted device. However, it is the only software I found which works with OverDrive and my local library.

Packaging is basic and simple. Not like Apple presentation. For $200 that’s fine.

The weighted feeling feels good. Like a solid product.

Plastic wrap around device is cheap feeling.

Has a look and feel to the Playbook

At first could not figure out how to turn it on. Ran fingers around edges. Then accidentally turned it on and saw the power lite up in green.

Screen is nice. Crips clear. Nice picture quality.

Feels intuitive. Got it connected to my home wifi.

Although it at first showed a log in screen, it logged me I to my amazon account. Cool and creepy.

Why do I need to wait for it to install latest features? It just arrived… Are there that many bug fixes or new software updates already??

Apple has a patent on the slide-to-unlock. Wonder if this will cause any stir for the Fire.

It’s amazingly fast. It opened one of my pre-purchased books immediately. Bam! Way better than iBooks. Better than Kindle itself. It’s on Fire!!

Newsstand looks interesting. Very easy, too easy, to buy an issue. I snagged the latest copy of Smithsonian… Ok, downloading is a different story (pardon the pun.) As with the iPad, these magazines are huge and take a long time to load. I hope they figure out how to stream in the future. Like, load as you read it. Otherwise, I’m not sure I really want to get back into reading magazines. It will be funny to see a large glossy rag on my 7in (cough cough) new Kindle Fire!

Okay, we’ll, that’s a big dissapointed my! It’s basically scanned pages into a small screen. I can’t read this. Ugh. Okay, no magazines for me thanks Kindle Fire.

MOVIES!!!! Although a small screen, the browsing experience is so much nicer than on the iPad with iTunes. It’s just more intuitive. Easy to look around. Love it!

APPS!!! In anticipation of the arrival of my new tech-gadget, I pre-selected some Android Apps from Amazon. They are magically all loaded! Maybe this is what was loaded when I impatiently first powered up my Fire…?

SCREEN

It’s smaller than the iPad, larger than my smart phone (iPhone 4S) – It’s large enough that in relation to watching a movie from a set across the room, it’s the same size. It’s bright, crisp, clear.

INTERFACE

Interesting… The auto-spell recommendation is like what I recently read about a hidden feature in iOS5.

The text typing and selection and correcting mechanism is not all that good. iOS5 has this beat. Yes, I’m comparing this to Apple’s tablet.

Netflix scrolling is weird. It pages up and down rather than a real scroll like in iPad app version. Not sure if I like it or not. And oddly, there is no hardware volume controls. And Netflix didn’t build in any into their interface. Very weird.

PRIME MEMBERSHIP

One of the benefits, other than quicker shipments, are FREE movies and books (ok, borrowing books is like getting them for free for a short period of time).

END THOUGHTS

Go get one. For $200 for the device, and $80 for Prime, you cant beat it. It’s fast, simple, easy to use, and works well. I have not played Angry Birds on it, yet… My needs are to watch movies, read books, and to be an adjunct to my iPad. I have enough love to give to both my tablet thingies.