Will Barnes & Noble stores give its e-books a boost?
Barnes & Noble is offering some e-books too.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)Barnes & Noble on Monday announced that it's getting back into the e-book market. The company said in a statement that its new e-book store has more than 700,000 books for sale--far more than the 300,000 books available for download from Amazon.com's Kindle store.
Similar to Amazon's strategy, Barnes & Noble e-books can be downloaded directly onto an iPhone or iPod Touch. They will also be integrated into Plastic Logic's upcoming e-reader, which is expected to hit store shelves sometime next year.
It's an exciting announcement for the retailer. The company tried once before to break into the e-book market. But by not providing an easy delivery method to help users read the books, it failed in 2003.
Going forward, Barnes & Noble believes that it can compete on the same level as Amazon, which has enjoyed a head start in the space. But just how can it get ahead in the market? The Kindle is available to users now, Amazon has its own e-books available on the same platforms to which Barnes & Noble books will be made available, and both companies are known and trusted in the book market.
As far as I can tell, those 700 Barnes & Noble locations are the only factor potentially giving it an advantage. But can brick-and-mortar stores really cement success for Barnes & Noble's e-book endeavors?
For some people, the bookstore is a waste of time. Instead of thumbing through books on shelves, they'd rather sit at their computers, check out titles quickly on the Web, and decide which they want to buy. Some of those folks want to hold the book, so they have it delivered to their homes. Others decide to buy it for a cheaper price on their Kindle, iPhone, or other e-reader.
But it's that group of folks who do care about the bookstore on whom Barnes & Noble can capitalize far more effectively than Amazon can. Sure, those users can flip through synopses online, but going to the bookstore is more than that to them. They want to read a couple chapters. They want to check out specific sections. They want to sip some espresso at the coffee shop inside the store. They are going to the bookstore to enjoy an experience.
By bringing e-books and (eventually) an e-reader to customers, Barnes & Noble has an opportunity to appeal to that second group. It can integrate downloading e-books into each of those stores. It could also sell e-readers at checkout. That strategy could significantly improve Barnes & Noble's chances of competing.
Conceivably, all those coffee shops at Barnes & Noble won't be filled with folks flipping through pages of a hardcover. Instead, some might be sipping some coffee while reading a book they just downloaded from Barnes & Noble's e-book service.
But then again, that's not an easy scenario to picture. Online purchases are more convenient, and as Barnes & Noble's financial data has shown, times are tough.
In the end, it's you who will determine if the company's stores may give it a competitive advantage for e-books. So what do you think? Will you be buying e-books at your local B&N?
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Such is life for most people, they need to put things in their hands to understand it. Suddenly, it becomes clear the screen really is that good, it really is that light. No, it really does have a more usable screen than the iPhones cramped screen.
Put that thing in your hands, you might not let go of it....out the door with a purchase you go.
As successful as the Kindle is, we aren't talking 10 million sold per quarter yet, and thats the potential here, its still a young market, nowhere near saturation.
B&N is wise to get in the game, soon, with a quality product....I expect the Plastic Logic device to fit that bill.
Wasn't it just last week the Amazon reached into cutomer's Kindle and REMOVED books people had already paid for and started to read? That is the kind of draconian DRM that you can expect from American companies operating without regulation or control. If a company fails or even discontinues the business, DRMed books will share the fate that DRMed music has already had.
All that being said, I'd rather purchase an ebook than a hardcover book. Unless you are one of those fortunate few that can maintain a library of any size, it's far more efficient to use the public library system.
Plus much of the problems with the printed media industry isn't even about people not reading books, newspapers or magazines, those numbers have remained stable. Its that the cost of production has grown while advertisers would rather just buy TV or internet space which they think is more useful than putting an ad in a newspaper.
Maybe these companies need to consider ways to lower their costs in the production of traditional media rather than trying to wish away their printing costs by providing a digital format that very few people want.
- by PJB0222 July 24, 2009 9:51 AM PDT
- The issues is that instead of partnering with an existing and great e-Book reader, Barnes and Noble is adding yet another piece of software and e-Book format.
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(17 Comments)As to DRM, my choice is to not buy any DRM locked books. If you insist on DRM, it must be transparent and allow me to read my material on any device I own. It must support a multitude of devices and reader software. It must be able to work off-line and be supported for MY life.
I also do not buy e-Books that are the same (or nearly the same) price as the hard cover book. It is electronic so there are no physical costs, storage costs, transportation costs or store costs. So there should be a significant cost savings that can be passed along to the consumer.
If you want to succeed with e-Books, get to a common e-Book format or provide the e-Book in multiple formats.
For an example of a publisher who understands what it will take to make e-Books really successful, look at Baen's (and the now several others who have joined with Baen) e-Book venture to distribute e-Books at webscription.net.