Classic B&N head sees company switching to eBooks

GA Russell · 02-24-2010, 11:35 PM

Here's a Reuters article that says that yesterday B&N's CEO held a conference call and revealed that B&N's sales of pbooks is going down the drain. Christmas was down 5% from last year.

Thanks to the nook, sales of eBooks were up 32% for the quarter. So the company sees itself transitioning from hard copies to eBooks.

Borders did even worse for Christmas. It was down 14% from the previous year, and is closing 183 Waldenbooks locations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...balMarketsNews

nomesque · 02-24-2010, 11:48 PM

Hrmmmm.... for a company considering a focus on ebooks, they seem to generate a scary number of customer complaints regarding their digital services division...

SimonSays · 02-24-2010, 11:53 PM

Borders? All of our Borders around here are closing- thought they were all going out of business

I can't believe they aren't giving it more time- a quarter isn't really long enough to gather enough information to determine if more people will lean towards ebook or paper/hard backs

Don't get me wrong, I love ebooks, but it will be a sad sad day when you can not find a store selling physical copies

Ervserver · 02-25-2010, 12:41 AM

I think its inevitable

TogTogTogTog · 02-25-2010, 07:30 AM

Ervserver is right. Its inevitable. The companies that switch now are just establishing hardware presence when it matters. Before everyone else joins the game. Information is getting out of control in this century. If we took all our information and put it on stone tablets, it would weigh more then the Earth! If we did the same with paper markedly less, but the inference is the same. As people gain easier access to publishing technology and humanity grows, information will do the same. And digitally is the next storage solution for it.

Hell, almost all authors already write the books digitally so the first people to read the books are doing it digitally. All that remains now is the technology to make it as comfortable as possible. It doesn't even have to resemble paper. I mean, I'm pretty sure in 50-100 years our grandchildren will be giving us weird looks for reading on "Paper? Isn't that like stone tablets? How... quaint."

eBooks are the future, might as well embrace them now

FireRunner · 02-25-2010, 09:24 AM

I love eBooks, but I hope paper books still survive. They still have a place in this world! However, I expect more eBooks available and better formatting, etc from B&N soon.

02-24-2010, 11:35 PM	#1
GA Russell Montreal wins Grey Cup! Posts: 7,583 Karma: 31484197 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Raleigh, NC Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite	B&N head sees company switching to eBooks Here's a Reuters article that says that yesterday B&N's CEO held a conference call and revealed that B&N's sales of pbooks is going down the drain. Christmas was down 5% from last year. Thanks to the nook, sales of eBooks were up 32% for the quarter. So the company sees itself transitioning from hard copies to eBooks. Borders did even worse for Christmas. It was down 14% from the previous year, and is closing 183 Waldenbooks locations. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUST...balMarketsNews

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02-24-2010, 11:48 PM	#2
nomesque Snooty Bestselling Author Posts: 1,485 Karma: 1000000 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ipswich, QLD, Australia Device: PRS-650	Hrmmmm.... for a company considering a focus on ebooks, they seem to generate a scary number of customer complaints regarding their digital services division...

02-24-2010, 11:53 PM	#3
SimonSays No wire hangers, ever! Posts: 183 Karma: 540 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: O-hi-o Device: Sony PRS-300	Borders? All of our Borders around here are closing- thought they were all going out of business I can't believe they aren't giving it more time- a quarter isn't really long enough to gather enough information to determine if more people will lean towards ebook or paper/hard backs Don't get me wrong, I love ebooks, but it will be a sad sad day when you can not find a store selling physical copies

02-25-2010, 12:41 AM	#4
Ervserver Wizard Posts: 2,624 Karma: 1008294 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Iowa, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch	I think its inevitable

02-25-2010, 07:30 AM	#5
TogTogTogTog Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nook	Ervserver is right. Its inevitable. The companies that switch now are just establishing hardware presence when it matters. Before everyone else joins the game. Information is getting out of control in this century. If we took all our information and put it on stone tablets, it would weigh more then the Earth! If we did the same with paper markedly less, but the inference is the same. As people gain easier access to publishing technology and humanity grows, information will do the same. And digitally is the next storage solution for it. Hell, almost all authors already write the books digitally so the first people to read the books are doing it digitally. All that remains now is the technology to make it as comfortable as possible. It doesn't even have to resemble paper. I mean, I'm pretty sure in 50-100 years our grandchildren will be giving us weird looks for reading on "Paper? Isn't that like stone tablets? How... quaint." eBooks are the future, might as well embrace them now

02-25-2010, 09:24 AM	#6
FireRunner eAddict Posts: 57 Karma: 54 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Washington DC Device: Nook	I love eBooks, but I hope paper books still survive. They still have a place in this world! However, I expect more eBooks available and better formatting, etc from B&N soon.