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Back in my distant past, I worked as a retail sales clerk. The sales clerk can have an enormous impact on sales. We had Minolta and Yashica sales reps come in and train us on their cameras, and it made a huge difference.
I'm afraid that companies these days expect everything to be online and handled somehow by technology, while the truth is, people desperately want the human touch. It's expensive (relatively) and time-consuming (relatively), but it frigging WORKS to train your sales staff. (If you feel a big "Duh" coming on, go with it!)
I feel that the Kobo CAN compete with the nook and Kindle if people can get it in their hands. It simply feels better to me. It's lighter and easier to handle and simple to use (if you're right-handed). But you aren't going to find that out by reading reviews on the internet that tally up features and tell you how much more you're getting when you buy a reader that offers "features" that you may not want, at the cost of weight and clumsiness.
If Borders is going to sell this thing, they have to educate their sales force. End of story. They have to make the effort. If they aren't willing to make that effort, the Kobo will die and my next e-reader will come from someone else.
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