Wednesday, August 18, 2010

What is the future of Barnes & Nobles and the Nook?

As many might have heard, Barnes & Nobles went up for sale this month. This leaves many to wonder what will ultimately become of what was quite easily the strongest bookstore going for a while. As a bookstore employee for Books-A-Million I know that they're the biggest competition in our area. But I also know that like us, they've been hit by more & more people heading towards the e-book and/or online market.

What this leaves me wondering is what will become of the chain- and more importantly, what of the Nook? Does ownership of the product shift with the store or is that something to be sold independently of the chain? How will this affect the product's usage? I know that part of what is luring me into purchasing the Nook is that I can read many books for free while I'm in the store & I imagine that is the same for other buyers.

If the Nook is purchased along with the rest of Barnes & Nobles then it would be foolhardy for the new owners to discontinue the Nook or to cease some of the product perks. While the Nook hasn't had a launch as wildly popular as the first Kindle had, it is still considered to be one of the better e-Readers out there.

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