eReaders: Was The Nook Barnes And Noble's Biggest Mistake?

nypost.com:

Barnes & Noble's lavish spending on its $249 Nook e-reader is getting mixed reviews from investors -- including Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle.

The New York-based book chain -- headed by controversial founder and Chairman Len Riggio -- said yesterday the handheld device has quickly captured a 20 percent market since its launch last year, despite stiff competition from Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad.

Nevertheless, the Nook's quick growth has come at a price. Yesterday, B&N reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, and said losses for the current fiscal year could surpass $50 million -- twice as steep as the previous forecast -- as B&N invests heavily in the Nook.

Read the whole story: nypost.com

Comments

[Gilgamesh Rex]

01:36 AM on 12/06/2010

Meh, I think the Nook color is good for what it is, but I still much prefer my Kindle (v3) for long reading sessions. My iPad is okay for the occasional session, but is much better for the business purposes for which I bought it. The Nook color, for me, brings nothing new to the table. If I wanted a Nook (and wasn't a Kindle early adopter) I'd prefer the original Nook to the color because the backlit screen and the glare is just too much for regular reading. That said, the K3 is a much better ereading device than Nook insofar as you're considering the tactile experience only. It's lighter, the contrast on the screen is better, the battery life is much better (mostly from not supporting the LCD color screen), etc. The only advantage for the Nook is for library users, which is the minority of ereader users. Sharing is no longer a Nook-only option, so mark another one off.

[mehereone]

10:59 AM on 12/04/2010

- Nook Color is better as a color e-Reader than Kindle simply because it has color and Kindle is black and white. Content that greatly benefits from color - such as kids books and magazines - looks much better and sharper on Nook Color's screen.
- Nook Color is better as an e-Reader in general than iPad. It has a new generation screen which is anti-glare coated and is better performing in sunlight than iPad's. Also, as it's smaller in size than iPad, the text appears sharper on Nook's screen. Also it has 12,000 (more soon) kids books that are built as a game with feedback.
- Nook Color has been picked as the editors choice by PC Magazine while pro reviewers of other sites (CNET, ZDNet, Engadget, AllThingsDigital, etc.) mentioned that it tested to be pretty fast for apps and PDF's, and has a beautiful screen.
- Overall, Nook Color is more than e-Reader as you can also watch video and use Android applications on it. It's a hybrid device, much more than just an e-Reader but not a full tablet as it doesn't have a camera. If all you want is to read novels, Kindle (or the original e-Ink Nook) might be better for you. If you want something more from your device at half of the price of iPad or Galaxy tab, then Nook Color is your best bet.
- Nook (unlike Kindle) can be used for library ebooks and for renting text-ebooks.

[mehereone]

10:58 AM on 12/04/2010

Forget Kindle, forget iPad, and Galaxy tab. Neither of them can come even close (in the same price range) to features of Nook Color. Then, you get ree Wi-Fi to Nook's at any Barnes & Noble store. There's over a million of free public ebooks as well as over a million of ebooks that you need to pay for available through Barnes & Noble eBook store. Prices are generally much lower than for physical books.
Nook wins.
- Nook allows to lend books for 2 weeks to friends or to your other devices that run B&N app. Barnes & Noble allows (when you walk in with the Nook to B&N store) to read any available eBook for free while in the store via free provided in the store Wi-Fi. With Nook, while in BN store you get exclusive articles from top authors, and great offers including cafe treats and unique deals.

[Indigo1941]

12:48 PM on 12/02/2010

Warning: Old Man Ranting:
I'm not ready for an e-reader. I like books. I like to read books. I like books to look like books. I admit I'd probably have been one of the last to accept the change-over from scrolls to pages, but I'm also a customer and I buy books, not e-loads. In my humble opinion, however, the B&N Mother of All Mistakes was not the e-reader but the decision to stop sending monthly coupons to their card holders. I used to buy more books out of my fixed income because I got an extra discount with the coupons. Then the coupons were rolled over into buy-this-book-we-picked-out-for-you coupons. I'm not with that, I pick out my own books. When I get an open coupon, I usually spend it on a book I might not otherwise buy. But now that they coupon-me no more, to wax literary about it, I buy fewer books and no e-loads. Thank you for hearing me through.

[Dextor Morgan]

10:16 AM on 12/03/2010

I'm with you Indigo1941. I do not have an ereader yet but I see me having one someday. I have two buddies on has an ipad and the other reads books. The buddy who has the ipad wanders into all the tech features, like most of the comments below. The other buddy, we talk about the book.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

08:52 PM on 12/03/2010

I love books too. The vast majority of owners of e-book devices love books. I got a Kindle this year, and have ended up doing a lot more reading. E-books are cheaper--instantly available as well. Also, if I buy an e-book and don't like it, I don't have a damn unwanted book I have to shelve or store or take to half-price to sell. I have around 3 to 4,000 actual real books in my home, and I'm very happy not to add to that number, unless it's something really special.

[eilish]

02:09 PM on 12/01/2010

I've owned ereaders seems like forever, since I was diagnosed with lupus and find it difficult to hold a paper book. The 1st Gen Amazon Kindle was without a doubt the clumsiest, heaviest, worst design I've ever owned. I absolutely hate it and wouldn't buy another.

I like the Nook for a lot of different features, a major one is that B&N owns the program that I've used for over a decade, ereader, which is a terrific little program. There are tons of books and new releases all seem to come in ebook format these days.

That said, I'm probably going to wind up with an iPad even though ebook software is a pain for my iPhone - at least I can read everything from everywhere on it!

The worst thing that booksellers have done is to create proprietary software for their own individual ereader device which cannot sustain unless they all have exactly the same books for exactly the same prices. I have accounts with several different ebook sources - and there's no denying libraries are going to be huge so what I'm after is a reader that can utilize them all. Since library books - which are Adobe digital format - cannot be read on a Kindle without a huge pain of putting each book through a difficult conversion program, that's out. Nook has a simpler one but you still have to install software on it and convert each book.

[NeoStar9]

03:04 PM on 12/01/2010

If you think the iPad is going to be any better then I suggest you go to a store and take a good look at it and ask to actually hold one. That thing is very heavy compared to a Kindle, especially the latest version. Stare at the screen for a while as well and then stare at the Kindle or even a Nook screen (no the color version) . If you want to mainly read the iPad is a bad buy in terms of portability, readability, price, and weight. If you want a bigger screen then the Kindle comes in a larger version that is still lighter then the iPad.

[eilish]

03:31 PM on 12/01/2010

As I said, I don't like the limitations Kindle puts on my ereading experience.

I'm primarily looking for something I can read all formats on and right now the iTouch/iPhone/iPad is the only option for that. There's an app for that!

[rougebaisers]

03:48 PM on 12/01/2010

It is heavy. The brief time I had one i would read with it on a stand that was actually quite nice.

[rougebaisers]

03:46 PM on 12/01/2010

Agreed on everything.

[eilish]

04:34 PM on 12/01/2010

Wow, that hardly ever happens!

[Pucker]

01:19 PM on 12/01/2010

The problem with the Nook Color is that it shares some of the worst features of both devices. It has the glossy, fingerprint magnet screen of the IPad (the reason it's a second rate e-reader), without sharing the IPad's depth of features.

Overall, the Nook color a nice device - built well, it feels solid - but I'm not sure if there is a market.

Regardless of what happens....it's very hard to envision a future where we still have actual book stores, with real books. I could see smaller places like Apple stores, with a bunch of kiosks to see the latest highlighted books (and maybe some nostalgic pictures of books on the wall). Maybe some will have a print & bind machine that can print a book on demand, for the Luddites.

[Andrew Shaffer]

11:56 AM on 12/01/2010

I think that only time will tell whether or not the nookcolor is a mistake--whether there's room for a midpriced unit between a low end e-ink reader and a high end iPad.

[rougebaisers]

03:47 PM on 12/01/2010

apple should put out an ereader only comparably priced with nookie.

[ESerafina42]

05:42 PM on 12/02/2010

I don't think of my nook as "low end" - it's perfect for what I want it for - READING.