07-28-2009, 09:41 PM | #1 |
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Barnes & Noble now offers free in-store Wifi
B&N announced today that the in-store Wifi (supported by At&T) will no longer be restricted to AT&T customers. Think of what this means for buying ebooks.
Quite some time back a member here on MobileRead said that he would like to be able to browse the paper books on the shelf, and then buy the ebook while he's still in the store. Thanks to free Wifi, B&N just made his idea possible. Whoever came up with that idea should stand up and take a bow. press release via Consumerist |
07-28-2009, 09:54 PM | #2 | |
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Besides, that's not a sustainable model for a retail store. The individual store needs to drive sales. Unless they have an e-book kiosk right there, a store that primarily exists for customers to browse before they buy a book online will be roadkill. |
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07-28-2009, 10:10 PM | #3 |
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I agree. I still love going to the book store and nothing would make me happier than to be able to find a book, purchase it and transfer to my reader right there at the register.
My fear is that bookstores will go the way of the record stores and close (the small ones already have)...so I still want to do business there. Unfortunately, my collection of magazines and cookbooks has grown exponentially since I got my ebook reader Last edited by Boston; 07-28-2009 at 10:12 PM. |
07-28-2009, 11:30 PM | #4 |
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B&N gives good press release, but they're not worth the paper they're written on.
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07-29-2009, 02:08 AM | #5 | |
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07-29-2009, 12:30 PM | #6 |
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I work at a Barnes and Noble and I've been reading about this new ebook and wireless thing. Doesn't seem that great to me, to be honest. You can't use any discounts on the books (because they're already "discounted" according to Corporate), so they remain the same or more expensive than other bookstores. I guess this isn't THAT big of a deal, but if someone goes to the trouble of buying a BN Membership they should be able to use it on EVERYTHING, BN sells. Just my opinion.
Also, you can only use the ebooks on iPhones, PCs, or other cell phones. That's a pretty limited audience. And as for their ebook program, it won't work for my PC. I download it and it disappears. |
07-30-2009, 01:04 AM | #7 |
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It would be very nifty if they get wifi in the stores here in Australia, too!
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07-30-2009, 01:58 AM | #8 |
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Actually a friend of mine who works for B&N said they were doing it in the hope that people would buy ebooks while they were in the store (on mobile phones, etc.) She said they are going to keep it device-agnostic, and that would be their big selling point.
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