
B&N opens up the Nook with Developer program - donohoe
https://nookdeveloper.barnesandnoble.com/?ui=desktop
======
jbigelow
I've got an original Nook that I like, the eInk is great for readability, I
was initially hesitant as to what to think about the Nook Color since it loses
the readability advantage over traditional tablets. So now that B&N is opening
up the Nook Color with an SDK I'm a little more excited about it. But what I'm
really curious about is, does B&N make a profit off the hardware sales or is
it a loss leader for ebook sales (is it the razor or the blade)? If B&N makes
money on the hardware it will have a nice new revenue stream as ebooks
gradually supplant traditional print books, but if they take a loss on each
unit hoping to recoup via ebook sales the platform may not have a long
lifespan if they discontinue it due to everybody rooting the thing for a cheap
Honeycomb tablet with no more vendor lock in.

~~~
orangecat
I don't think they're taking a loss on it. They could easily have put up a few
speedbumps to hacking it if they cared, like not unconditionally booting off
the SD card.

------
scottchin
I just signed up and looked around the site. But I don't quite understand the
platform. Is the Nook an eReader that happens to also be an android tablet?
What does the Nook SDK provide? I didn't see any docs on the site.

~~~
DotSauce
Yes, the Nook Color is essentially an android tablet. Along with eBooks, book
store, and web browsing, it has an "Extras" area which currently features a
limited selection of apps (Pandora, photo gallery, crossword, chess, sudoku,
mp3 player). Barnes and Noble will be launching a moderated version of the
Android App store (along with Flash capabilities) in an update sometime this
month.

------
Groxx
So, their color Nook gets an SDK after a few months. And their Eink ones
_still_ have nothing. Why no love, B&N?

~~~
jbigelow
I'd guess it's because it's a completely different architecture, eInk is such
a niche use that the engineering resources needed to provide an SDK probably
outweighs the development community that would make use of it. The Nook Color
on the other hand has a huge development base and the SDK heavy lifting has
been done already via the underlying Android platform.

~~~
Groxx
The E-ink one is Android-based too: <http://nookdevs.com/Nook>

