In a Barnes & Noble company meeting CEO Len Riggio told shareholders that Nook was out of the technology business. According to Publisher’s Weekly[1], “Riggio explained that when e-book sales began exploding several years ago, B&N felt it had no choice but to enter the digital market. In retrospect, Riggio said, B&N didn’t have the culture or financing to compete with the likes of Amazon and Google.”
B&N will continue selling digital books and devices to read them on – primarily Samsung tablets – but this means that they will no longer produce the Nook as a standalone product. B&N will continue to focus on physical stores and will “partner with technology companies” to maintain a loose foothold in e-books.
Interestingly there is still a fairly solid following for Nook products[2], a sign that the underdog e-readers and tablets held a special place in readers’ hearts. The only true Nook device, the Glowlight, is still for sale and Nook software is still available on specially branded Samsung tablets.
The Nook had a long, fruitful run, appearing first in 2009[3] as a unique LCD/e-ink hybrid device. The Digital Reader[4] believes that existing Nook users will be transferred to Kobo, a competing e-book service....
Featured Image: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesReferences
- ^ Publisher’s Weekly (www.publishersweekly.com)
- ^ following for Nook products (www.mobileread.com)
- ^ first in 2009 (en.wikipedia.org)
- ^ Digital Reader (the-digital-reader.com)
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