NYT: B&N planning big push to increase Nook sales

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I suspect that most new eBook reader owners read more books than before because they want to use their new toy.

How long before the thrill wears off? I'm guessing a year.

Can't speak for others, but my reading consumption has stayed consistent over decades.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Can't speak for others, but my reading consumption has stayed consistent over decades.

There's only so many hours in the day, right?

[Lastblade]

For the first month of owning the Nook, I have read more/faster than regular books. I find carrying the Nook much easier than even a paperback. I like eInk/font size consistency from book to book. I don't forsee this to change unless I run out of books to read.

[Maggie Leung]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

There's only so many hours in the day, right?

Lol, yup.

[Fbone]

Larger displays? That's it?

They will need to do more. The sales push should have started when they lowered the price in June.

September? Same as Borders' area-e. Why does it take so long to set up a display?

[Lastblade]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Larger displays? That's it?

They will need to do more. The sales push should have started when they lowered the price in June.

September? Same as Borders' area-e. Why does it take so long to set up a display?

They probably need to design something that works with most of their stores (many of different layouts, especially the ones here in Manhattan) and then moving inventory around to accomodate the new kiosk. I don't think this is as trivial as it sounds.

[vaughnmr]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Can't speak for others, but my reading consumption has stayed consistent over decades.

Mine has increased greatly, mostly because of convenience. If I'm reading something I suddenly find boring, I can close it and go read something else. Don't even have to get up and go to the bookshelf. That I no longer have...

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Lastblade

They probably need to design something that works with most of their stores (many of different layouts, especially the ones here in Manhattan) and then moving inventory around to accomodate the new kiosk. I don't think this is as trivial as it sounds.

It's very possible.

However, the viability of the company depends somewhat on the success of the nook and ebook store. That should generate more urgency. As I said they should have done this last month.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I suspect that most new eBook reader owners read more books than before because they want to use their new toy.

How long before the thrill wears off? I'm guessing a year.

Hasn't for me. Not at all. I read more now than ever before, and I've always been a reader. This just makes it so much easier. I've bought more books in the past two years than I have in the 5 or 6 before I went to ebooks. Know why? Because I'm now so spoiled to reading on electronics, that I don't like to read paper books anymore! My library has an absolutely pathetic selection of ebooks (2 mysteries, yes, I'm serious, 2), so I buy them.
With the prices the way they're going, I can so see myself having both a nook AND a Kindle, in addition to my Asus convertible tablet/netbook - simply for portability and content access. I don't see the "thrill" wearing off, ever.

[echongyi]

If their storefronts lose sales, well, better they lose those sales to Nook and not to Kindle.

[J. Strnad]

I've been watching the evolution of ebooks for about ten years, and I'm beginning to think I won't live long enough to see a coherent system for ebook distribution. We seem to be taking the path of greatest resistance, climbing up the rugged, rocky face while beating each other with sticks instead of walking up the gently sloping, flower-lined path.

We may have Amazon to thank for popularizing ebooks with the Kindle, but we also have them to blame for making it an all-or-nothing game. They're trying their best to lock everyone in to their proprietary format and to buying from their store alone.

B&N's response is to create their own proprietary DRM to lock people into their store and their device. Now these two unevolved entities are battling each other like dinosaurs while consumers debate which side they need to ally themselves with.

And for what? So that we can read text on a portable device!

The free market system is fine for many things, but really, is all-out warfare really the best way to get this job done?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

The free market system is fine for many things, but really, is all-out warfare really the best way to get this job done?

Oh, don't worry; any day now tthe french will notice that ebooks are real and they'll set up a euro-standard ePub DRM to bypass Adobe, Apple, and B&N's proprietary solutions. Then there won't be two or three but five to choose from.

In truth, I expect the dust-up will be settled in a couple of years; it's not going to take decades or centuries. And, all jesting aside, the only way to settle the issue of DRM is for the issue to get bad enough *everybody* agrees it needs to be settled. So the first thing that needs to happen is for DRM to get *really* annoying for a *lot* of people. Which it is starting to be.

Short-term pain, long-term gain.
In the meantime, the wise buy DRM-free.

[rogue_librarian]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Oh, don't worry; any day now tthe french will notice that ebooks are real and they'll set up a euro-standard ePub DRM to bypass Adobe, Apple, and B&N's proprietary solutions. Then there won't be two or three but five to choose from.

I know it's meant to be tongue in cheek, but it ain't gonna happen. Most of Europe has firmly adopted epub (well perhaps not all that firmly, but the tentative steps they've taken are all epub based at least.)

In truth, I expect the dust-up will be settled in a couple of years; it's not going to take decades or centuries.

I agree if that means a multi-vendor format. There needs to be competition and there need to be multiple vendors of devices and sources of books. Consumers don't care about formats provided they don't get in their way. "Buy anywhere, read anywhere" is all that matters.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by rogue_librarian

Most of Europe has firmly adopted epub (well perhaps not all that firmly, but the tentative steps they've taken are all epub based at least.)

Exactly. In the UK things were just starting to get stable, with all the main vendors offering ADEPT ePub, and a nice range of readers to choose from, with Sony the most visible.

The major problem was the stock in the eBook shops, which is still not extensive, but given time this would build up to Amazon levels.

Only, Amazon have decided not to give the rest of the market that time.

The run-up to Christmas could be pretty decisive. Those other bookshops need to get deals signed and extra staff in populating the virtual shelves at lightning speed, because once the Amazon store launches in the UK with 400,000 non-public domain titles at the end of August it will make the opposition look pretty feeble for book choice.

Graham

[chazcop]

I was in B&N's large Lincoln Center (Manhattan) store today & approached the 3 workers in the "Nook Nook" why I should buy it instead of the Kindle 3.

They actually said they didn't know. I had to mention that the 3 is supposedly faster, smaller, double the memory, much improved screen etc. Then 1 guy said we'll weait til it comes out. Goodness! They have a month in which to sell their WiFi version ($150 new last month) with no Kindle...you'd think they'd be up to convincing me already. There are some good reasons to still choose Nook...but why do I know that & they don't?

Several hours later (I was in the cafe) I DID go down to buy it. This time there was 1 person in the nook & I waited 20 min. while he did a sales spiel/demo with an older couple. I just bought it...asked no further Q's but did see a stack of folders behind the desk: The top 1 said Nook vs Kindle 2.
Time for Nook vs Kindle 3!

mINE IS CHARGING NOW.

Originally Posted by abookreader

That is an awful lot of store space that won't be selling books. When you look at the store ... the audio section, the cafe, then all the non-book products like the lotions and candles etc, then 1000sq to nook displays (and oh please could they actually work on training the employees?)

Somewhere along the line they are going to reach one of those infamous Tipping Points where the % of their store that is actually stocking printed books will be the minority.