Rumor: Did B&N Pass on a Chance to Make a 6.8″ Nook Glow HD?

[HansTWN]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

A member might not be obligated to respond but a company spokesman arguably is under such an obligation. Sameer volunteered for the role when he joined the discussion in the first place.

Let it go --- is this a personal vendetta against Kobe?

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Rizla

I think Nate the Great was referring to the deleted post / link in his blog when he talked about a second rumor. I do think there is some room for questioning the Kobo's transparency. I do find the release / timing / existence / size of the Aura strange . We live in strange e-reader times. Nate the Great is digging, and I commend his efforts. It makes for fun reading, too

I'm glad you find this discussion entertaining. I doubt it will result in any useful info, so at least there's some small gain.

[taming]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

Except he kinda does have an obligation to answer questions. It's the obligation he took on when he, as a Kobo employee, jumped into the debate on the rumor.

Surely there is a line, and I bet he knows what it should be from Kobo's perspective. After all, you could ask him what they are planning six months from now, or any one of a number of things you might think are related. Then there is the issue of who is asking.

I am not meaning to insult you, Nate. But I think that your role outside of these forums can make questions from you into an interview. I am quite sure that even an employee as highly placed as Sameer does not engage with journalists in this way.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Let it go --- us this a personal vendetta against Kobe?

Not at all. I'm just continuing to debate the point because it is mildly entertaining.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by taming

Surely there is a line, and I bet he knows what it should be from Kobo's perspective. After all, you could ask him what they are planning six months from now, or any one of a number of things you might think are related. Then there is the issue of who is asking.

I am not meaning to insult you, Nate. But I think that your role outside of these forums can make questions from you into an interview. I am quite sure that even an employee as highly placed as Sameer does not engage with journalists in this way.

Probably. But one thing you seem to miss is that an obligation to respond does not mean that Sameer has to say anything more than no comment.

And in any case, Sameer posts infrequently so there was little chance of him responding anyway. I wish I had thought to check for that before today; I could have skipped the question and gone straight to parsing his statement.

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Perhaps Nate will find out what Amazon is really hiding when they don't post their sales numbers for Kindle. Something sinister id definitely going on there...

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Perhaps Nate will find out what Amazon is really hiding when they don't post their sales numbers for Kindle. Something sinister id definitely going on there...

Amazon is hiding the fact that Jeff Bezos is an alien. That, and they also bought the state of Wyoming so they could roof it over and turn it into a distribution center.

Originally Posted by Canuck_in_Japan

Perhaps Nate will find out what Amazon is really hiding when they don't post their sales numbers for Kindle. Something sinister id definitely going on there...

Yeap, it's a great conspiracy. People are buying Kobo's and Sony's and even generic Android tablets then silk screening the Kindle logo on it, just because Kindle is a status symbol but noone in their right mind would use one. In reality, only one Kindle has been sold and Bezos gave it to his mum. If rumours are true, his mum uses it as a cutting board. She much prefers to buy printed books from a local independent book store because she has an intense hatred of the Internet and corporate America.

[robko]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

A member might not be obligated to respond but a company spokesman arguably is under such an obligation. Sameer volunteered for the role when he joined the discussion in the first place.

Ah but: any answer he gives you're just going to parse and question what he's trying to say or avoiding saying so he's in a no win situation any way you look at it. IMHO, he gave a fairly straight forward answer that you're reading way too much into in all likelihood. And no, just because he made a comment on the discussion doesn't mean he has any obligation to comment further just because you think he was trying to mislead you wasn't telling the whole truth.

[evanft]

Let me see if I have this straight.

I think what may have happened is that Barnes and Noble was developing a new e-reader that used a new screen from eInk. Somewhat late in the development cycle, B&N cancelled the project. Much of the engineering work for the screen had already been done, so eInk was likely able to offer the screen at a somewhat reduced cost (maybe just for the parts themselves without a development fee) and with a reduced lead time. Kobo came in and snatched them up.

I think one of Nate's points that many here don't understand is that companies like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and perhaps even Amazon aren't really doing a lot of their own engineering work for these devices. Yes, they may design the externals and choose specifications, but I doubt they're hiring engineers to do GD&T on the plastics or PCB design. That's almost certainly all farmed out to other companies.

I've seen it happen in my industry where a customer will have a supplier start development on a product only to cancel it later on. Since the supplier has already done a lot of work, they're able to apply that to future products for other customers at a reduced cost. This actually happens a lot.

[robko]

Originally Posted by evanft

I think what may have happened is that Barnes and Noble was developing a new e-reader that used a new screen from eInk. Somewhat late in the development cycle, B&N cancelled the project. Much of the engineering work for the screen had already been done, so eInk was likely able to offer the screen at a somewhat reduced cost (maybe just for the parts themselves without a development fee) and with a reduced lead time. Kobo came in and snatched them up.

Which is what to my read of it is what Sameer said WAS NOT the case although that was the rumour.

Originally Posted by evanft

I think one of Nate's points that many here don't understand is that companies like Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and perhaps even Amazon aren't really doing a lot of their own engineering work for these devices. Yes, they may design the externals and choose specifications, but I doubt they're hiring engineers to do GD&T on the plastics or PCB design. That's almost certainly all farmed out to other companies.

I've seen it happen in my industry where a customer will have a supplier start development on a product only to cancel it later on. Since the supplier has already done a lot of work, they're able to apply that to future products for other customers at a reduced cost. This actually happens a lot.

All of which are very true and valid points. Except that Sameer indicated that wasn't the case here but Nate thinks he very carefully chose his words to avoid absolutely, unequivocally saying this isn't the case. I am quite aware that companies are good at doing that, but in this case it really doesn't feel like that's the case to me.

[evanft]

Originally Posted by robko

Which is what to my read of it is what Sameer said WAS NOT the case although that was the rumour.



All of which are very true and valid points. Except that Sameer indicated that wasn't the case here but Nate thinks he very carefully chose his words to avoid absolutely, unequivocally saying this isn't the case. I am quite aware that companies are good at doing that, but in this case it really doesn't feel like that's the case to me.

A company spokesman is going to say what the company tells them, so I really don't care what they say on this forum. Quite frankly, I think they should spend more time in the bad customer service thread over in the Kobo sub-forum than responding to rumors.

To be quite honest, this rumor turning out to be true wouldn't shock me at all. B&N has been on the skids for a while now, and releasing a new ereader at this time of year is a somewhat odd decision on Kobo's part.

[robko]

Originally Posted by evanft

... releasing a new ereader at this time of year is a somewhat odd decision on Kobo's part.

Ironically enough, I today I happened to come across my 3 year old receipt for my original Kobo. Guess what: I bought MAY 1, 2010 shortly after it came out. So as others have said this IS NOT an unusual time of year for Kobo to launch a reader as much as everyone seems to want to claim it is.

[taming]

They have had a spring device release in 2010, 2011, and now 2013. I just got my three year anniversary letter from Kobo. They didn't yet have their own actual MR forum then--it was in more readers.

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by taming

They have had a spring device release in 2010, 2011, and now 2013. I just got my three year anniversary letter from Kobo. They didn't yet have their own actual MR forum then--it was in more readers.

But in between the Spring 2011 launch and the Spring 2013 launch were a couple Fall launches in 2012 and 2011. That is a compelling argument that Kobo had switched to Fall launches.