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One place where B&N missed the boat was in capitalizing on one distinctive feature of their ereaders - long before we had heard of Onyx or Boyue, B&N was selling Android E-Ink devices. B&N could have sold this as an advantage over Kindle or Kobo. They could have offered Pocket (like Kobo does/did) or Instapaper. More than that, they could have had a curated app store made up of apps that focus on text and that have been tweaked to look good and run smoothly on E-Ink. If the devices sold well, developers would feel motivated to offer E-Ink-friendly apps. B&N could have promoted "E-Ink is easier on the eyes" as well.
Actually, it's still not too late. Most people who buy a Kindle or a Kobo (and have never visited Mobileread) have never heard of Onyx or Boyue. With a little clever advertising, B&N could create a market for such a Nook device, at least in North America. Will it happen? Given B&N's track record, I won't bet very much on it...
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