I think it's fair to speculate on something like this, especially since there has been a lot of negative news about B&N and the Nook over the last year or so. The problem is presenting speculation as facts or certainties. I think the problem with this perception arose out of the title the OP chose -- "
Nook clearly headed for the dumpster" when it's uncertain what will happen to the Nook brand and B&N's e-book business.
Using a word like "clearly" when the fate of B&N is actually pretty "cloudy" is going overboard. But then I notice the OP likes to speak in absolutes -- ie, saying that "Caecilia is the best font for eInk.
No question."
Personallly, I would never use Caecilia as my everyday font for reading ebooks. The ascenders are too short relative to the font's mean line, resulting in a sort of short, squat appearance. It is also widely known that a large differentiation between the ascender and mean line makes reading easier for most people. My own favorites are Adobe Garamond and Georgia. At any rate, fonts are a very personal choice -- the same way colors are -- so to say one font is the "best" for eInk is going quite overboard.
Getting back to B&N, here is what TechCrunch said on May 8th:
Quote:
"The documents also reveal that Nook Media plans to discontinue its Android-based tablet business by the end of its 2014 fiscal year as it transitions to a model where Nook content is distributed through apps on “third-party partner” devices."
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/08/mic...for-1-billion/
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Just one month later, on June 11th, they say something different (same website; different reporter) ... saying B&N will get out of the ebook business and concentrate on low-cost tablets/e-readers:
Quote:
"Nook tanking these apps means that Barnes & Noble’s efforts around e-books officially now trail Amazon’s in terms of cross-platform access, but it’s likely B&N is setting its sights on a broader goal of becoming a player in the low-cost tablet space with Nook hardware, as it has recently introduced features that both add Play store functionality to the Nook HD line, and unlock key missing features like a browser for the Simple Touch, making them more than just e-readers."
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/bar...trategy-shift/
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So, even the same source -- TechCrunch -- is saying different things! If I had to guess, I would say that B&N remains a content provider long after they stop making tablets and/or e-readers. But if and when that happens is anyone's guess. Could be 2014 or maybe not for a few years. While I wouldn't count on it, I wouldn't be surprised to see at least one more generation of the Nook android-based tablet.
--Pat