Any rumors on a new NOOK E Ink?

[Bokes]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I long-since rooted my Nook ST. Font problem? What font problem?

Nook buyosphere issues aside, the hardware design is excellent. It's a shame that Sony and Nook have bowed out of the market. All was have left is near-identical Amazon and Kobo black-slab mini-tablets. Yawn. The Nook designs were attractive and different.

agree. Not sure why so many folks seem just fine with allowing Amazon full control of the market. B&N has dropped the ball- but I have never had an issue with my collection. My only concern was the side load issue- (but I found a workaround)

how about this:
New CEO announces the new fall nook device.
They are honest and tell us there are no plans for any new devices.
Ink and paper doesn't need an upgrade every year- why upgrade a basic reader?
As a book reader- they work.
Also announce:
Screen specs that match Amazon paperwhite3- only the screen flush. (folks seem to want that)
Bring back the SD slot.
Unlock DRM (those who want to strip- find ways- so leave it off)
Allow downloads for local back-up. (what's the harm?)
Price match Amazon on all titles. (yup)
Offer life-time warranty on the device (Make them cheap- it breaks- replace it.
As long as customers own one- they will BUY content)
$99 w/power and include one free ebook download

I think that's what it would take to compete with Amazon.
Maybe not over night- but long term.
Anything less - who knows what happens

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Bokes

agree. Not sure why so many folks seem just fine with allowing Amazon full control of the market.

I think many aren't fine with it, but with some of the moves they've made have lost hope that B&N will do anything to turn things around.

Unlock DRM (those who want to strip- find ways- so leave it off)

Then almost all big publisher books, and many small pubs too, would not be sold in their store anymore. The publishers want/insist on DRM and stores must provide it in order to carry their product.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by conan50

...I have this dying hope that B&N will get their head out of their back side and save nook, get serious for the first time about the nook store, and create devices that actually are unique and awesome....

I have those same thoughts. The thing is, B&N already has the infrastructure in place. All they need is someone who knows what he's doing to run it and the support of the B&N bigwigs.

But then, this is the same company that bought a successful e-book store and dismantled it, then put together their own mediocre e-book store.

[AnemicOak]

B&N should have focused on getting the eBook end of things good and solid instead of trying to be Amazon Jr.

Amazon has an appstore so B&N has one (that sucks & is all but abandoned), Amazon does streaming video, so B&N does a mediocre streaming video store in Nook Video, Amazon has Audible so B&N comes up with Nook Audiobooks which many don't trust yet because it was on the heels of dropping their old Audiobook services, etc.

While it's not bad for them to offer all those services/comtent they should really have gotten the eBook store on a more solid footing before branching out everywhere. They've failed to get a good rep at the thing Amazon excels at most of the time, Customer Service.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Bokes

how about this:
New CEO announces the new fall nook device. -Sounds good
They are honest and tell us there are no plans for any new devices.
Ink and paper doesn't need an upgrade every year- why upgrade a basic reader?
As a book reader- they work. -That would be a PR disaster. While I agree with you, the general public wont buy it
Also announce:
Screen specs that match Amazon paperwhite3- only the screen flush. (folks seem to want that) -I'd like both of those
Bring back the SD slot. -Either that or give plenty of space for sideloading. I think THAT was the biggest problem with the Nook Glowlight
Unlock DRM (those who want to strip- find ways- so leave it off) -That won't happen. B&N just doesn't have the muscle to force the publishers to accept reality. I'd be fine if they just went back to quietly making it easy for those who do the homework to strip it
Allow downloads for local back-up. (what's the harm?)
Price match Amazon on all titles. (yup) -That may not be possible for them, but I agree it's something they have to do, at least on the new, major releases
Offer life-time warranty on the device (Make them cheap- it breaks- replace it.
As long as customers own one- they will BUY content) -Another thing that likely wouldn't be feasable. Nobody else makes such an offer. Maybe offer a generous warranty or something?
$99 w/power and include one free ebook download -I don't know enough about the cost to manufacture to say that this is a realistic price. Sounds like you're asking for a Kindle Voyage at a basic Kindle price

I think that's what it would take to compete with Amazon.
Maybe not over night- but long term. -Long term planning doesn't seem to be a strength of many corporations these days
Anything less - who knows what happens

I agree with your thoughts overall. I would like to see B&N come back to life.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

B&N should have focused on getting the eBook end of things good and solid instead of trying to be Amazon Jr.

Amazon has an appstore so B&N has one (that sucks & is all but abandoned), Amazon does streaming video, so B&N does a mediocre streaming video store in Nook Video, Amazon has Audible so B&N comes up with Nook Audiobooks which many don't trust yet because it was on the heels of dropping their old Audiobook services, etc.

While it's not bad for them to offer all those services/comtent they should really have gotten the eBook store on a more solid footing before branching out everywhere. They've failed to get a good rep at the thing Amazon excels at most of the time, Customer Service.

Yes, exactly. I feel like the move from e-readers to tablets (with the launch of the Nook Color) was when they took their eye off the ball. They just got in over their heads.

[Rizla]

The B&N management sucked unholy balls. The business is going / went down the toilet and good people lose their jobs. B&N management illustrates what can be so wrong about large companies. Management with head totally up ass. Sony went this way for a while. Weird strategy, bad decision-making, big funding, that can only continue for so long. The management did okay. They walked away with big money, so why would they give a ****?

The interesting question is what could B&N have done differently to survive in the US and UK markets. Or indeed, what could they still do to begin again and use their existing platform?

I think the key is they must be an alternative to Amazon. By that, I mean they must offer something different.

Anyway, they clearly have no clue or vision. Great hardware though. Thanks idiot CEO for providing me with a great e-reader you overproduced so had to sell off dirt-cheap. Shame about all the workers whose livelihood you've damaged. But you're alright, I'm sure. Maybe that's the problem. HUA syndrome.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Rizla

The interesting question is what could B&N have done differently to survive in the US and UK markets. Or indeed, what could they still do to begin again and use their existing platform?

Definitely an uphill battle at this point.

Do something to leverage all of the customers in their membership program?

Stop trying to tie deals and stuff to customers visiting the retail stores (maybe they don't do this anymore?).

I'm not a fan of exclusives, but they could do something to get exclusives with popular indie authors. Maybe in exchange for exclusivity offer some kind of print distribution in their stores through Sterling (B&N's publishing house).

Instead of trying to compete with tablets and the Samsung partnership focus on getting the reading apps really good and then pay tablet manufacturers to be the only pre-installed reading app on the device?

I agree they need to be different that Amazon, but you can only be so different. One thing that Amazon has that's a big selling feature (Google has it too?) is the whole Whispersync, send to kindle, cloud thing. I don't really use it, but it seems quite popular with a lot of folks. B&N should try to take that concept and if not make it better at least offer some version of it.

[conan50]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

B&N should have focused on getting the eBook end of things good and solid instead of trying to be Amazon Jr.

Amazon has an appstore so B&N has one (that sucks & is all but abandoned), Amazon does streaming video, so B&N does a mediocre streaming video store in Nook Video, Amazon has Audible so B&N comes up with Nook Audiobooks which many don't trust yet because it was on the heels of dropping their old Audiobook services, etc.

While it's not bad for them to offer all those services/comtent they should really have gotten the eBook store on a more solid footing before branching out everywhere. They've failed to get a good rep at the thing Amazon excels at most of the time, Customer Service.

B&N ebooks always felt secondary to their brick and mortar stores. At this point I'd like to see them sell off nook to someone serious about ebooks, whose only focus will be ebooks and devices/software. You are right that B&N was too much me-too regarding Amazon.
Walmart would be wise to buy them out, or some other big player. Someone with deep pockets who could invest in the store and make devices available.

[AnemicOak]

Unless they can get it for next to nothing I can't see anyone wanting to buy Nook. If Walmart wants to do eBooks they could just add an eBook store as an extension of Vudu (which is already very successful) and build it from scratch without the Nook stigma attached.


There was a time when B&N had Amazon doing the me too game. Problem is Amazon did the me too and did it better (or at least as good).

[conan50]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Unless they can get it for next to nothing I can't see anyone wanting to buy Nook. If Walmart wants to do eBooks they could just add an eBook store as an extension of Vudu (which is already very successful) and build it from scratch without the Nook stigma attached.


There was a time when B&N had Amazon doing the me too game. Problem is Amazon did the me too and did it better (or at least as good).

I agree no one will likely want to buy nook. The advantage for Walmart, or any other buyer, is the built-in user base. I think Walmart could do it, because as you mention, they have done an outstanding job with Vudu. Also with a physical store they could easily promote and sell devices and the service.
My concern is that nook just goes under, and is not properly handed off or sold to someone else, millions of users lose ebooks they paid for. Of course this would be a good wake up call to the dangers of locked down DRM ebooks and ecosystems. Maybe consumers would realize just how badly we need an "mp3 style" ebook system that lets us take our ebooks with us and use them wherever we like.

[SCION]

They haven't bothered to update their comparison to the Kindle Paperwhite. Still showing the previous model with 212 ppi, just like the NOOK. The new Paperwhite is 300 ppi. This section of the product page should be removed.

[Bokes]

Originally Posted by SCION

They haven't bothered to update their comparison to the Kindle Paperwhite. Still showing the previous model with 212 ppi, just like the NOOK. The new Paperwhite is 300 ppi. This section of the product page should be removed.

Because they would only be adding the fact that the paper white has a better screen. Why would they do that? Yes- Removing it altogether makes more sense.
And:
Most likely will not bother updating the page until they release the new nook in the fall. Not to mention- It's the least of their worries right now.
Or - as everyone seems to assume- they are killing the device so maybe they just don't care....?

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Bokes

Because they would only be adding the fact that the paper white has a better screen. Why would they do that? Yes- Removing it altogether makes more sense.
And:
Most likely will not bother updating the page until they release the new nook in the fall. Not to mention- It's the least of their worries right now.
Or - as everyone seems to assume- they are killing the device so maybe they just don't care....?

I'd go with the just don't care option.......

[downeaster59]

"Dammit, Jim, I'm a bookseller, not an Amazon!" - Dr. "Barnes" McNoble, Star Trek - The Next Degradation

As someone whose first E-Ink device was the venerable NST, and whose first Android tablet was the venerable Nook Color, I'd like to see B&N suddenly wake up and smell the e-coffee. May not happen, but....

FWIW, here's what I'd recommend, if anyone at B&N was listening. The Nook can't be Amazon, Jr., so why not shoot for another niche? The NST had an older version of Android. What if our fantasy NST 2.0 ran a newer version of Android (KitKat or Lollipop)? What if it were open in the sense that you could install other e-reader apps? What if Nook had an E-Ink friendly app, and a curated app store that had only apps that were certified compatible with our new NST device? What if Nook could sell this as an eye-friendly way to use apps like Pocket, Instapaper, or any app that uses mainly text? What if the existence of such a device inspired developers to make E-Ink-friendly versions of their apps? What if this device had a nice frontlight, an SD card slot, a minimum 250 dpi, and 16 gigs of interior space? I have a couple of Chinese efforts at such a device. But Nook, with its existing infrastructure, could easily do all these things in a new device and probably sell a respectable number of them, to boot. What if Nook really focused on the reading experience in all its aspects, not only eBooks?

Too much to ask? Probably. But we'll never know unless we ask.