

Barnes & Noble Plans an Extensive E-Bookstore - newacc
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/internet/21book.html?_r=1&ref=technology

======
jm4
It's disappointing that there is, apparently, no support for the Kindle. It
doesn't look like there's support for any dedicated reader, for that matter.
It's a software reader that can be installed on a computer, iPhone or
Blackberry.

I love my Kindle. Sure, it got it's warts and I don't like DRM in principle,
but it does exactly what I want it to do and it's convenient. However, it
would be nice to have another source for ebooks even if I can't use Whispernet
to buy them. There are a couple rinky-dink stores that aren't price-
competitive with Amazon so I was excited about the Barnes and Noble
announcement at first. It will be interesting to see what kind of uptake they
have without supporting dedicated reading devices.

[edit]

After reading some more it looks like they've got their own format and DRM.
_sigh_ It's bad enough that we've already Amazon selling ebooks that are only
compatible with one device. I was hoping at some point their store would open
up to other devices, and they seem somewhat open minded to the idea
considering their primary business is selling the books themselves. The last
thing we need is a bunch of book sellers trying to lock customers into one
format and one store.

 _“I don’t think they will be stealing market share from Amazon,” Ms. Rotman
Epps said. “If anything I think they are contributing to the growth of the
whole category of digital reading.”_

I'm not so sure about this. I've been a fan of ebooks for a while and, if
anything, I'm a little turned off right now.

 _She added that as more consumers begin reading digital books on phones and
other mobile devices, it made sense to market to those readers as opposed to
those who are buying dedicated reading devices like the Kindle or the Sony
Reader._

It doesn't look like there will be support for dedicated reading devices any
time soon.

~~~
hyuhgtf
I don't think it was actually B+N's choice to not allow access to Amazon's
reader.

~~~
jm4
How so? I don't think anyone needs to get permission from Amazon. There are a
few formats that are compatible with the Kindle. I've bought a few books from
The Pragmatic Programmers and they offer a .mobi version that works on the
Kindle.

------
tsuraan
I still think the best thing BN could do right now is to put the inventory
levels of every bookstore on the store pages. I know they have them all on
their intranet, since they can do searches of near-by stores to see if any
neighbors have the book you are looking for. I'd just love to be able to go to
bn.com and have it tell me which store (if any) I can go to today to get the
book I want.

As it is, I mostly just go straight to amazon if I'm looking for a computer-
related book, a sci-fi book, or a fantasy book, since my local bn's selection
tends to be a bit lacking...

~~~
ryanwaggoner
Both Borders and BN already have this info on their websites.

~~~
tsuraan
Wow, I can't believe I never noticed that. I've always gone to the local store
page, and then looked for a book search there; I never saw the "enter a zip
code" box on the normal product page. Learn something every day...

~~~
martin
Eh, it doesn't really work. I was looking for a book recently, and the B&N web
site said that 4 stores nearby had it. I called to confirm, and it turned out
only one of them did.

------
jpwagner
Books being read on iPhones et al...great time to go into optometry!

