[darryl]

Reading the thread in the News Forum headed B&N death spiral was quite thought provoking. As is evident from my brief contribution to that thread, I do not agree that B&N is irrevocably doomed. However, right now if they have a viable business plan for, say, the next 10 years, then I don't see it. This may, of course, simply be nothing more than the desirability of keeping the whole or parts of such a plan out of the public eye at this stage.

Hence, the question. Do you have any suggestions you would like to share on the ideas B&N need to start implementing to be a viable and successful business in 10 years time?

My own thoughts would include:

1. Close or in some cases downsize all unprofitable physical stores as soon as possible.
2. Invest in further development of Nook platform. Add support for Amazon and other formats where possible, including DRM support.
3. Develop exceptional website for purchase of Nook EBooks. Where possible, support Amazon and other format ebooks, including DRM support.
4. Look at possible Joint Ventures, Mergers etc with large publishers. Alternately, look at expanding its own online publishing, perhaps even by acquiring one or more of the existing players.
5. Monitor the sales of physical books very carefully, with a view to avoiding over exposure to this market.

I do not pretend any special expertise and could well be wrong on all counts. It just seems to me that the challenges faced by all players but Amazon at this stage are extreme, and even Amazon can't afford too many wrong decisions. I am interested in the thoughts of others.