I just finished an article in a retail trade blog about how Barnes and Noble is on the ropes and either will go private or under. This will absolutely crush my wife and will cripple me as far as buying her last minute gifts, specifically her last birthday. (I told her to use that gift card quickly). What is interesting is that she may have been the cause of this downfall, well not her specifically but the thought that she is glued to her Kindle whenever and wherever we travel. She does buy hardback books, but the bulk of her reading is in electronic form.
The lesson is simple, Barnes and Noble felt that traditionalist would not jump on the Kindle bandwagon early on. Unfortunately, they found out that by the time they realized the trend was in full swing, their response (the Nook) was weak and more of a me too product without the pizazz of the Kindle. This follows the same line as many of the iPhone wanabees. They may look and function great, but they aren't the iPhone.
Technology is the great equalizer in this case. It is still more fun to go into the mammoth Barnes and Noble store and browse through all the labels, I specially like the buy 2 and get 1 free table. But the convenience of getting the latest Dan Brown novel with a click instead of waiting in line has fundamentally changed book buying. The price is usually half of what you pay for the hardback. But, Amazon beware, my wife noticed that your prices are sneaking up to where the convenience may not be worth the cost. Could we see another technology take over, say the book exchange?
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