Laptop Thoughts: Angry Birds and the Root of All Nooks

"In his review of Barnes & Noble’s e-reader Nook Color, Andrew mentioned that eventual root access perhaps could provide the somewhat limited tablet with extra functionality. Thanks to the industrious and experimental gadget lovers at the xda-developers, the Nook Color has now indeed been rooted, but the process is still pretty complicated."

Hacking hardware seems to be a tradition of popular, or even semi-popular electronics. From the Linksys WRT54G series to various HTC phones, hackers have been busy stretching the boundaries of what these electronics are capable of. The Nook Color is no exception. Why root an eBook reader? Well, since the Nook has Android underpinnings, rooting means that you can install your own apps. This is a Good Thing, since the Nook does not give access to the Market. It also makes the Nook a very tempting colour Android tablet. I hope Barnes and Noble priced their tablet so they do not sell it at a loss, as I suspect that once the rooting process is streamlined, quite a few sales of the Nooks will be for non-eBook purposes.