Comments on: It Ain’ Necessarily So: Predicting the end of print, and e-ink, and B&N, has become the new national pastime. http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/it-ain-necessarily-so-predicting-the-end-of-print-and-e-ink-and-bn-has-become-the-new-national-pastime/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Mon, 20 May 2013 23:55:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Rob Preece http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/it-ain-necessarily-so-predicting-the-end-of-print-and-e-ink-and-bn-has-become-the-new-national-pastime/comment-page-1/#comment-1231404 Rob Preece Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:07:48 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=77149#comment-1231404 As a Nook (color) owner and user, as well as someone who does all my last minute holiday shopping at my local B&N, I'm ever-hopeful that B&N will grow stronger. Certainly Amazon needs the competition (and certainly author, publishers and readers need Amazon to have the competition). I think that the Nook devices are excellent and that B&N has a great catalog. I've seen them being active in offering nice discounts (buy a Nook, get a gift card). Although I may be unduly optimistic, I think B&N still has a chance to succeed in this business. Certainly the big publishers have a lot invested in B&N's success. By the way, if B&N fails, (knock on wood), what does this do to the print forever forecasts? Without B&N, print really is dead. As a Nook (color) owner and user, as well as someone who does all my last minute holiday shopping at my local B&N, I’m ever-hopeful that B&N will grow stronger. Certainly Amazon needs the competition (and certainly author, publishers and readers need Amazon to have the competition). I think that the Nook devices are excellent and that B&N has a great catalog. I’ve seen them being active in offering nice discounts (buy a Nook, get a gift card).

Although I may be unduly optimistic, I think B&N still has a chance to succeed in this business. Certainly the big publishers have a lot invested in B&N’s success.

By the way, if B&N fails, (knock on wood), what does this do to the print forever forecasts? Without B&N, print really is dead.

]]> By: Alexander Inglis http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/it-ain-necessarily-so-predicting-the-end-of-print-and-e-ink-and-bn-has-become-the-new-national-pastime/comment-page-1/#comment-1231072 Alexander Inglis Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:06:07 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=77149#comment-1231072 I find myself continuing to read on Kobo e-ink devices (specifically, the Touch is an excellent device and I have now graduated to the Glo -- partly due to a Cat Incident) and apps. While I read library books, it was always a bit fiddly to get them onto the Touch; it's so much easier to read directly on a 7" tablet (Nexus 7 for me). But that means using the Kobo app for Kobo books and the Overdrive app for library books. And THAT opens the door for the Kindle app (my last Kindle device was the Kindle 3 keyboard wifi). The biggest surprise for me has been how completely I have adapted to a $200 7" Android e-reader/tablet. FORM FACTOR is really important: it's quite light to hold, the page size feels ideal, and all books are available on it regardless of source. But the drawbacks are less flexibility in fonts, etc ... and battery life. Note that when these devices were $500 they were a non-starter. What this means for B&N and Kobo is they must continue to offer a great e-ink experience for the foreseeable future. This is where die-hard, heavy book buyers will stay and its a good entry point for new e-book consumers (esp at the ~$100 price point). Portability, long battery life, dedicated function will hold appeal longer term. And SECOND, both companies must offer great apps and an on-device store experience and library management facility that keeps buyers in their camp (hint: Send to Kindle is a really nice perk). I find myself continuing to read on Kobo e-ink devices (specifically, the Touch is an excellent device and I have now graduated to the Glo — partly due to a Cat Incident) and apps. While I read library books, it was always a bit fiddly to get them onto the Touch; it’s so much easier to read directly on a 7″ tablet (Nexus 7 for me). But that means using the Kobo app for Kobo books and the Overdrive app for library books. And THAT opens the door for the Kindle app (my last Kindle device was the Kindle 3 keyboard wifi).

The biggest surprise for me has been how completely I have adapted to a $200 7″ Android e-reader/tablet. FORM FACTOR is really important: it’s quite light to hold, the page size feels ideal, and all books are available on it regardless of source. But the drawbacks are less flexibility in fonts, etc … and battery life. Note that when these devices were $500 they were a non-starter.

What this means for B&N and Kobo is they must continue to offer a great e-ink experience for the foreseeable future. This is where die-hard, heavy book buyers will stay and its a good entry point for new e-book consumers (esp at the ~$100 price point). Portability, long battery life, dedicated function will hold appeal longer term. And SECOND, both companies must offer great apps and an on-device store experience and library management facility that keeps buyers in their camp (hint: Send to Kindle is a really nice perk).

]]> By: Michael W. Perry http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/it-ain-necessarily-so-predicting-the-end-of-print-and-e-ink-and-bn-has-become-the-new-national-pastime/comment-page-1/#comment-1231067 Michael W. Perry Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:36:51 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=77149#comment-1231067 B&N doesn't seem to be trying very hard. They've yet to realize that digital books are like cars, they're part of an ecosystem. Cheaper of not, a particular model car would be a bad investment if you couldn't get parts or repairs for it. In the same way, a digital book is less valuable if it's distributed as a use-and-discard item. Readers need to know that they don't need to keep a copy on their latest computer/tablet/smartphone/reader to always be able to reread it years later. They should be able to know that the retailer is keeping it on a digital shelf, always available and always capable of running on whatever device they have. O'Reilly does that well as does Smashwords. Amazon does that too, although its proprietary format is worrisome. Apple does it, but only for its own mobile devices. And all of those are doing well enough, it's difficult to see them leaving the field. B&N is to be commended for adopting the ePub standard, but, given their seeming lackluster enthusiasm for ebooks, it's easy to imagine them abandoning the field like Microsoft abandoned the Zune. Their profit, I suspect, isn't in ebooks but in the stuff other than books that people buy when they come to a physical store. That's why that Nook owner quoted has that stuck-with-a-betamax feeling. There are few things more discouraging than being stuck with the technological format that failed and sold by a company that's abandoned a market. And yes, readers might be able to store ebooks themselves and to move that Nook ebook they bought to some other device. But the typical reader no more wants to klutz with that than the typical car owner wants to do his own brake work. B&N doesn’t seem to be trying very hard. They’ve yet to realize that digital books are like cars, they’re part of an ecosystem. Cheaper of not, a particular model car would be a bad investment if you couldn’t get parts or repairs for it.

In the same way, a digital book is less valuable if it’s distributed as a use-and-discard item. Readers need to know that they don’t need to keep a copy on their latest computer/tablet/smartphone/reader to always be able to reread it years later. They should be able to know that the retailer is keeping it on a digital shelf, always available and always capable of running on whatever device they have. O’Reilly does that well as does Smashwords. Amazon does that too, although its proprietary format is worrisome. Apple does it, but only for its own mobile devices. And all of those are doing well enough, it’s difficult to see them leaving the field.

B&N is to be commended for adopting the ePub standard, but, given their seeming lackluster enthusiasm for ebooks, it’s easy to imagine them abandoning the field like Microsoft abandoned the Zune. Their profit, I suspect, isn’t in ebooks but in the stuff other than books that people buy when they come to a physical store.

That’s why that Nook owner quoted has that stuck-with-a-betamax feeling. There are few things more discouraging than being stuck with the technological format that failed and sold by a company that’s abandoned a market.

And yes, readers might be able to store ebooks themselves and to move that Nook ebook they bought to some other device. But the typical reader no more wants to klutz with that than the typical car owner wants to do his own brake work.

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