Nook News for all Nook Owners

[jbcohen]

I read in the Wall Street Journal this morning (January 7, 2012) that Barns and Nobles is thinking of spining off the Nook. This means that B&N will no longer make the Nook and instead it will take all nook operations and make it a seperate company all together. This does not mean that you will no longer be able to buy a nook or the products will be any better or worse it simply means that a sperate company will be making and developing the products, just not B&N. Is this a good thing or bad thing You judge for yourself.

[mimosavj]

I hope that B&N still honors the 1 hour free reading in their stores. This is a very neat feature.

[jbcohen]

Cnet news says that B&N does not intend to spinoff the nook becuse everything is going digital these days and the nook is B&N's digital end of the business.

[geoffwood]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Cnet news says that B&N does not intend to spinoff the nook becuse everything is going digital these days and the nook is B&N's digital end of the business.

Spinning it off into a separate company makes sense as a way to recognize the value of the brand they have built, but it will devalue the remaining Bricks and Mortar operation. I wonder if that can survive without the Nook, or if it will go the way of Borders.

I heard Best Buy described the other day as being "a showroom for Amazon" and I think B&N could be in the same boat. Go there, see a book you like, scan the barcode and two days later it's on your doorstep from Amazon.

[taustin]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

Spinning it off into a separate company makes sense as a way to recognize the value of the brand they have built, but it will devalue the remaining Bricks and Mortar operation. I wonder if that can survive without the Nook, or if it will go the way of Borders.

It's also the best way to adapt to "disrputive technologies," i.e., new technology that really requires a different business model than the company's existing business.

But don't think for a moment that spinning off the nook division as a seperate company means it will be not be paying its profits back to the parent company. My guess is it will be a wholly owned subsidiary, with every penny of profit going back to B&N. At that point, they could close their brick & mortar stores entirely and still be in business - if they do it right.

If they're smart, this has more to do with giving the nook people more freedom to manage their business as they see fit without interference from people with too much experience at a business model that has definitely failed.

[geoffwood]

I suspect it may work the other way round. Spin it off to be a completely separate company, sever the ties with Barnes and Noble, leave B&N with all the debt and the property leases that are tied to the old business model and then let it slowly die while the Nook division flourishes.

[taustin]

Could be. Either way, it's a good idea, businesswise, to seperate the two completely different ways of doing business.