A Glimpse into how B&N handles digital textbooks

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by markbot

i hope they don't have that book number exposed so that people can steal it in the store.

I expect it works the same as gift cards, top up cards and long distance cards. The cards are easy to steal/pocket... but they are all inactive unless they are activated at the POS (cash register) they won't work.

BOb

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by Boston

I have long hoped for adoption of this type of technology for buying e-books in the b&m bookstores.

I love going to the bookstores and want them to have my business.

I think of it as the right idea, but the wrong execution.

You should be able to examine the book at the bookstore. But once you decide to buy it, it should be a fully digital package downloadable at the store, or e-mailed to you. I see their point at wanting to attach the file to the physical package (and the receipt... apparently, you'd best keep both as long as you want to use that book) for security purposes, but I think they could've done better. This solution just seems kludgy to me.

[Boston]

Originally Posted by Steve Jordan

I think of it as the right idea, but the wrong execution.

Admittedly, I didn't look at it that carefully and didn't realize it contained the file

What I would like is something I can bring up to the register to buy the digital edition. Once activated, you could load the book right at the store or use a code that's been activated to download it to your device from an on-line store.

But I'm happy to see them at least attempting to sell e-books in a b&m store. It gives me hope that they will expand in that direction (and improve the process).

[llreader]

I hope a good scheme for digital textbooks comes out. I am doing a Master's program in English, and I can't get English language textbooks here without paying large amounts of money and waiting a few weeks. I would spend a lot of money on etextbooks.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by llreader

I hope a good scheme for digital textbooks comes out. I am doing a Master's program in English, and I can't get English language textbooks here without paying large amounts of money and waiting a few weeks. I would spend a lot of money on etextbooks.

Maybe you could try directly checking out the sites of the publishers of the books you need. Don't give up hope, you just might be able to find many of the books you need in some sort of electronic format. For example, Oxford and Cambridge now have ebooks listed on their sites, it might be worth checking out:

http://www.oup.co.uk/academic/rights/electronic/ebooks/
http://www.ebooks.com/news/64.asp
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ebooks.php

Good luck with your search!

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

http://www.ebooks.com/news/64.asp

eBooks appears to have a good selection of Academic Ebooks. Many are Adobe PDF ebooks though. I don't know if they will work well on a 6" screen (i.e. whether they will reflow). The Kindle Store also has a good selection of technical books, many of which are Kindle-only (TOPAZ ebooks) but Kindle for PC is now available to read these on a Windows PC.

[llreader]

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

Maybe you could try directly checking out the sites of the publishers of the books you need. Don't give up hope, you just might be able to find many of the books you need in some sort of electronic format. For example, Oxford and Cambridge now have ebooks listed on their sites, it might be worth checking out:

http://www.oup.co.uk/academic/rights/electronic/ebooks/
http://www.ebooks.com/news/64.asp
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/electronicresources/ebooks.php

Good luck with your search!

Excellent! Thanks very much.