Quote:
Originally Posted by fjtorres
That is exactly it.
The story of the IBM PC is the classic example.
The PC was created by an independent unit within IBM with no allegiance to anything or anybody in IBM other than their chief, Don Estridge. They were free to look at the market and deliver whatever it took to succeed without regard to what it might do to their mainframe, minicomputer, typewriter, or printer divisions. They succeeded spectacularly by doing things IBM would never do.
Then Mr Estridge died in an accident, the PC unit lost its independence and IBM started doing things the traditional IBM way. PC became PS/2, open became proprietary, and because they were more interested in serving the interests of IBM and not the interests of their customers they lost control of the market. A few years later they were out of the desktop computing business altogether.
B&N runs an online bookstore but its is not integrated with the stores. It is really a separate business that only shares its name with the stores.
Look at how Amazon runs its bookstores: they are extensions of the online store. They draw reviews and recommendations from their online customers. You can pay at the store using your online account or buy online from the store. If you're a Prime member, you get online pricing instore.
When it comes to pBooks there is only one Amazon.
B&N has never done that.
Probably too late to even try it now.
The thing about B&N crippling online and Nook to protect the stores is that it the stores have been in decline all along. They crippled their growth areas to prop up their fading sector.
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Mostly I agree. I disagree with the asserting that the stores had been in decline all along. The B&N stores were in a strong growth all the way through the late 2000's. One could argue that the Nook came about as the stores were starting to go into decline, but back in 1997 when online was starting to be a thing, not so much.