BN rep called Nook color a 'toy', recommended original Nook

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

good point and being the fact that the OP is a Kindle owner, could be up to something

Not at all. While I love my Kindle, I want to supplement it with a color LCD device that can read PDF's. I also want it to support my local libraries DRM.

If I might be allowed to go off-topic a bit -- I could use the NC with no problem. But...I think I like the bigger screen of the iPad. If only they could lower its weight (quite) a bit...

As for the conversation with the rep...I quoted only the parts I remembered well. She also made a remark insinuating that e-ink was better for the eyes than LCD. Can't remember the exact wording.

[phenomshel]

I've recommended both the NC and the original nook to relatives and friends, depending on what they've told me they want out of a device. So it's not that either device is better/worse than the other. I've also recommended Kindles, Sonys, and Kobos, depending on the person who was asking the question's needs as I understand them. (No, I do not work in a bookstore, but I do live in a small town and people who know me invariably ask my opinion when they're looking at buying an ebook reading device).

As I also mentioned, I am in customer service (at a grocery store). When someone asks my opinion on a product, I give it honestly. My customers appreciate it, and my boss has been standing behind me on a number of occasions. She's never reprimanded me, and in fact, has complimented me, even when what I have said has not been complimentary to both products being discussed. She knows that I value what my customer wants and/or needs above the corporate line, and she respects that.
"Corporate" as an entity, does NOT know everything, a lot of times they are so far removed from what goes on in the actual reality of the store, that they come out with "party lines" that are so out of touch with reality that we'd actually lose customers if we followed them. This is a small town. I know my customers both inside and outside my work environment, and I value them as friends, acquaintances, and customers. (Except for the occasional one I'd like to strangle, but that's another post!)

Now, I also realize that bored teenagers or young adults in a minimum wage job that they find boring may not go to this level in customer service, and I have no way of knowing which camp the young lady in the OP's post falls into. And since we have no way of knowing her exact wording or her tone, I don't think we have enough information to judge her.

[ecw0647]

I own an original nook and a color nook. Where the color nook really shines is for children's picture books. My grandchildren love it. For reading regular books, it's just fine, especially in a dark environment where you might not want to turn on a light. It also has a very good web browser which works great on my WiFi. If the BN sales rep had any sense, she would have pointed out the advantages and disadvantages.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Dulin's Books

or there could be a completely different angle to this whole story. maybe she was TOLD to push the Nook because they have a bunch they need to move out the door

It's one thing to push one product... but you do it by talking up that product's strengths, not by belittling the product right next to it.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by phenomshel

I have no way of knowing which camp the young lady in the OP's post falls into. .

She was 40ish, give or take a few years in either direction.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Grimm

Ummmm... no. The more bells and whistles, the more expense, the less "toy" it would become. Is a loaded Mercedes a toy compared to a Chevy Aveo? I think not. .

And I think it is. IMO a fully loaded Mercedes is the ultimate toy and I would publicly refer to it as such.

The problen some of you seem to be having is that you're still stuck in your parent's mindset when ' toy' was considered a derogatory term.

Get with the program, people! She who dies with the most toys, wins!

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

And I think it is. IMO a fully loaded Mercedes is the ultimate toy and I would publicly refer to it as such.

The problen some of you seem to be having is that you're still stuck in your parent's mindset when ' toy' was considered a derogatory term.

Get with the program, people! She who dies with the most toys, wins!

Oh, I agree, a toy can be a positive thing. But it usually depeonds on who says it, where and in what context. If it's "only a toy", it's not positive...

[dengar]

Well when I went to look at the Nook and Nook Color the BN rep told me that the Nook was for older people who's eyes are not as good and the Color was for the younger generation who likes gadgets. Should I get him fired for discrimation against older people? I dont think so because he was honest...and 100% correct IMO.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by dengar

Well when I went to look at the Nook and Nook Color the BN rep told me that the Nook was for older people who's eyes are not as good and the Color was for the younger generation who likes gadgets. Should I get him fired for discrimation against older people? I dont think so because he was honest...and 100% correct IMO.

Define older people. If that's the case, the target audience of the NOOK has always been older folks with poor eyesight? Again, opinion masquerading as fact.

[dengar]

Originally Posted by SCION

Define older people. If that's the case, the target audience of the NOOK has always been older folks with poor eyesight? Again, opinion masquerading as fact.

Well I turn 41 this month so I am definitely one of those older folks Trying to read the Color made my eyes start to strain.

[gtriever]

Originally Posted by dengar

Well when I went to look at the Nook and Nook Color the BN rep told me that the Nook was for older people who's eyes are not as good and the Color was for the younger generation who likes gadgets. Should I get him fired for discrimation against older people? I dont think so because he was honest...and 100% correct IMO.

As a 60 year-old tech who's had cataract surgery and now sports artificial lens implants, I can say that even though you're entitled to your opinion, you're wrong. And both my Nook and Nook Color agree with me.

[PatNY]

There's a difference between saying "Look at my new toy" and "This device is just a toy."

The former has no derogatory inferences. The latter is pretty derogatory, especially if the word "just" was used as the OP said. Saying something is "just a toy" says it has little value beyond fluff and unimportant features.

If I were the salesperson's supervisor, I would probably have talked to her about her unfortunate choice of words. It is possible as a salesperson to steer the person to the right device for his or her needs without denigrating other products.

[Elfwreck]

I'd love to know what she thinks makes the NC a toy--is it just the fact that it plays games, or does it lack some serious reading features that the original Nook has? (I doubt this, but I suppose it's possible.) If it has to recharge in a handful of hours, instead of the much longer e-ink reading time, that could support the idea "serious readers should get the e-ink reader."

Calling it just-a-toy is somewhat derogatory, and salespeople generally shouldn't insult what they're (supposedly) trying to sell, but I don't think she committed a firing offense--if she's able to describe why she thinks it's (1) a toy and (2) not as good for reading as the other.

Obviously, she's clueless about "office documents," and has never considered color magazines as reading material that some people want. (I wonder how the Nook Color supports comic books? If not CBZ format, then ePubs made from them.) Potentially, she meant "the games and internet are irrelevant to serious readers so you'd be wasting your money to pay more, and get less battery life, for access to those."

[MikeFromHC]

Originally Posted by ardeegee

Yes, because honest answers is the last thing corporate drones should be allowed to do.

The rep gave an opinion which was not necessarily honest.
Is a computer a toy because games and other stuff can be played on it?

[RW2112]

Originally Posted by MikeFromHC

The rep gave an opinion which was not necessarily honest.
Is a computer a toy because games and other stuff can be played on it?

Well I classify my computer as a toy for that very reason...biggest toy I have!

I don't think the rep was necessarily wrong in what she said, but definitely she could have sounded more professional in how she represented both devices.