Touch It's not called the Simple Touch Reader

[taosaur]

For those who might have missed it over in the news forum:

Originally Posted by RichL

Wrote Mr. Pogue about the discrepancy between what he called the reader and what the picture showed. Received the following in reply.

"Here's the email I got from the Barnes & Noble PR woman:

Thanks for your time today. Wanted to provide a few things that may be helpful as you review the All-New NOOK.

· Please call it the All-New Nook. (Please note it’s not Nook Touch, etc.). We refer to the original NOOK products as 1st Edition, fyi."

So I guess the problem is not with Mr. Pogue but with B&n's PR requesting that a product stamped as one thing (nook) be referred to as something else.

If you have a look around B&N's site, you'll find that "the simple touch reader" is a descriptive tagline. I found at least one accessory listed as fitting the "Nook 2nd Edition," but otherwise it's "All-New Nook" through and through.

Personally, I've resolved to simply call it nook, specifying that it's the new one if and when appropriate.

[requiem3]

It was stupid of their marketing team to not better differentiate the names in the first place. "All new" isn't going to stick, so i think STR is what we should use just to differentiate them, at least for now.

The B&N STR website now calls it "ALL-New NOOK, The Simple Touch Reader."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp?PID=35699&

This is new. Originally all the B&N releases and info called it just "The Simple Touch Reader." You really shouldn't attempt to change names a few days after release. It tells me their marketing gurus are asleep on the job.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by requiem3

"All new" isn't going to stick.

+1, although I think Nook Touch is probably going to be the more popular reference. Less syllables.

But even using "Touch is incredibly short-sighted of B&N. First, Sony already has a Touch Reader named model, and has for a long time. Second, most new eInks from now own will have a touch interface, and using the term "Touch" in the name by itself will soon make no sense, if it even makes sense now.

[EldRick]

If you look at the Accessories link for the STR you will find that all of the cases are labeled as being for the "Nook 2nd Edition".

I contacted B&N asking if this meant the Touch reader, and they seemed to have no idea what I meant by calling it the "Nook Touch", but confirmed that the cases are indeed intended for the STR.

I ordered a case/stand, which is on the way.

Very much a work in progress! Darn marketing people. I know of a few cases in which the marketing folks at a software company in which I worked published brochures of our new products coming out, and unfortunately the brochures listed features that didn't make it into the development cycle. Bottomline was the company made the development team work around the clock for weeks to hastily add in these features in order to save face. They knew it was a marketing error, but development paid the price!

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by jswinden

But even using "Touch is incredibly short-sighted of B&N. First, Sony already has a Touch Reader named model, and has for a long time. Second, most new eInks from now own will have a touch interface, and using the term "Touch" in the name by itself will soon make no sense, if it even makes sense now.

I realize that soon it will make no sense but at this time, referring to it as the "Nook Touch" should be okay. Sony has it, Kobo will have it (Kobo Touch) so B&N might as well join the fray. For now, it's a good enough method to differentiate it from older models and it's easy to stick into people's mind. Nook STR sounds too technical for the average folk.

"Nook, 1st Edition" and "Nook, 2nd Edition" would probably be the best way to go about official naming. Easy to shorten, too - Nook 1 or Nook 1st Ed., Nook 2 or Nook 2nd Ed. Naming it the "All-New NOOK" is just dumb.

[jridley]

I got the impression that the long-term goal was that the new one was now the "Nook" with no modifiers, and the old one was the Nook 1st Edition, which I personally shorten to Nook 1G. Nook STR or Nook Touch leaves no doubt which model we're talking about.

I think the new model is likely to be so popular that there are more of them out there than the 1G very soon, so just calling it the Nook is probably going to be the fact on the ground very soon regardless of anyone's preference.

[TimW]

The mods on the Nook boards refer to the old Nook as the "N1E" and the new one as "N2E."

[wymore]

Originally Posted by requiem3

It was stupid of their marketing team to not better differentiate the names in the first place. "All new" isn't going to stick, so i think STR is what we should use just to differentiate them, at least for now.

Agreed. What will they call the next one a year or two down the road, the "Even Newer Nook?"

[Dedale]

I remember in Asia, you could see billboards with "the faster iphone yet" for the 3gs even if the 4th was already available, I guess it will be the same

[Lastblade]

I call it Nook Squared

[chas0039]

Simple can refer to a lack of features and abilities, so I am guessing they became sensitive to all the things they stripped out to make it cheap and they are attempting to reverse a bad name choice that points this out.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wymore

Agreed. What will they call the next one a year or two down the road, the "Even Newer Nook?"

B&N aren't alone in such things. Everyone else calls the current Kindle the "Kindle 3", but Amazon don't; their (UK) site calls it by the catchy name of "Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 3G Works Globally, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology", a name which just trips off the tongue .