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Originally Posted by murg
I'm not so sure.
Technically, I don't think that Amazon can take over. They just aren't set up to handle epubs, so they'd have to keep a B&N site up, indefinitely, to serve ebooks to people that have already bought them.
From a legal point of view, Apple is now has sufficient market share that Amazon isn't the vast monopoly that it used to be. And what other American ebook company can B&N sell to? Kobo is Canadian.
And there may be a situation where no one wants B&N.
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They would just keep it 'the same' and cut costs by firing Accounting and HR and moving all the back end to AWS (if it is not there already). Dump Adobe DRM and replace it with their own to save some more. Keep the remaining employees and leave them to do whatever they are doing now, except now they will have access to more resources, and a more certain future. Bring back ability to download files. Flash a Kindle with the Nook firmware, with white plastic instead of black, and call it a Nook, suddenly they have a new lineup of devices with minimal development costs. B&N online customers would need to get a new account for the new improved Nook, of course, but that could be pretty seamless. They'd get better customer service for a change.
Amazon bought Comixology, and apart from removing in-app purchasing on iOS, nothing much has changed as far as their customers and employees go.
Obviously it is not going to happen but it is fun to think about.