| Barnes and Noble has been releasing dedicated e-readers and tablets since 2009. The nations largest bookseller has released 11 different devices and has experienced a gradual decline in hardware sales and e-books. This did not happen overnight and today we look at the exact moments in time when Nook users started to abandon the brand. Barnes and Noble was one of the first big companies to capitalize on the emerging e-reader space in 2009 when they released the Nook e-reader that had 3G and wireless internet access. This was two years after the launch of the original Kindle and users flocked to the brand that was heavily promoted in the bookstores. One year later they released their first Android tablet, and it was a critical success. The Nook Tablet Debacle The first major disconnect between Barnes and Noble and their growing user base was December 21st 2011 when the company disabled the ability to sideload in apps from other Android markets. The 1.4.1 firmware update for the Nook Tablet closed a loophole that allowed people to install apps via the internet browser. Since it was around Christmas many people received this tablet as a gift and thousands of devices were returned, while the Nook Boards blew up with angry customers who said they would never do business with the company again. Lack of Memory Angers e-reader Loyalists In April 2012 Barnes and Noble unveiled their second generation Nook Simple Touch for $139. The prime selling point behind this model was the front-lit technology. Ironically B&N was a pioneer in this new lightning technology and the entire industry cloned their LED system later that year. People did not realize how much the Nook e-reader brand has changed until they started to read the fine print. For the first time ever Barnes and Noble edited the memory partition to only allow 500 MB of user loaded content, even though there was 4 GB of total on-device storage. This now prevented users from adding their entire e-book library to their e-reader, which drove many ballistic. Thousands of users returned their devices and the Nook Boards blew up once more in a feeble attempt to show the company their disdain and to try and get them to reverse the decision. As always, B&N did not listen to their users and begun to slowly lose the e-reader war to companies such as Amazon and Kobo. You Can No Longer Backup your e-books In early 2014 Barnes and Noble removed the ability to download eBooks that customers had purchased from the online Nook Store to their computer. They did this so users could not strip the encryption or read the Nook books on 3rd party e-reading apps. This was considered the last straw and many loyal Nook users and they began to openly mock the company for being out of touch. Wrap Up The latest statistics show that Barnes and Noble has lost over a billion dollars on Nook hardware, accessories and e-books since 2009. There are many reasons why the Nook business floundered, from the poor app store they had for many years before they switched to Google Play to taking the number two online bookstore, Fictionwise and literary doing nothing with their investment. Why did you abandon the Nook brand? Was there a specific catalyst that we did not cover today? We’d love to hear from you in the comment section below. When was the exact moment B&N Nook Started to Decline? is a post from: Good e-Reader |
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
When was the exact moment B&N Nook Started to Decline?
New 50 Shades of Grey Manuscript Stolen
| The brand new 50 Shades of Grey title is due out in less than a week and and has skyrocketed to the number one position on Amazon. The book is focuses on Christian Grey and the tale is told from his prospective. But it turns out that one reader couldn't wait until 18 June to get their hands on it: the Daily Mail reports that a manuscript was found to be missing yesterday, and "it is feared thieves may be planning to release pirated versions of the novel, or sell extracts to media outlets". Penguin Random House has confirmed the manuscript has been stolen and that there is an ongoing police investigation to find the culprit. “‘We can confirm that the Kent police are investigating the theft of a finished copy of EL James’s new book Grey. We will not be issuing any further statement.” said the publisher. Any pirate or torrent website would likely experience millions of downloads within a day if they were to have the exclusive 50 Shades e-book. A major torrent service like the PirateBay would see revenues skyrocket from their advertising and affiliate service, earning them hundreds of thousands of dollars. Grey, is not the first mega bestseller to be stolen or leaked in the weeks leading up to the official publication. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – the last of the seven-part series – were leaked to the internet in 2007 days before the official release date, leading bloggers to write lists of all the characters who died in the epic. Stephenie Meyer begun writing a book called the Midnight Sun, that retold the Twilight Saga from the prospective of Edward Cullen, instead of Bella. The manuscript was stolen and leaked online in early 2008 and she was crestfallen and decided to cancel the project. “I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique.” Stephanie Meyer said in a blog post. “Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.” The new 50 Shades of Grey titled, Grey is still on course for the official June 18th launch. It remains to be seen if sales will be cannibalized due to the title leaking out early. New 50 Shades of Grey Manuscript Stolen is a post from: Good e-Reader |
The OverDrive Summer Read program for young readers is live
| Yesterday we launched the most recent edition of our Big Library Read program on public library OverDrive websites across the world. Today we are proud to announce that our OverDrive Summer Read program is live for our school partners around the globe as well as public libraries with eReading Rooms for young readers. Similar to the Big Library Read, this program enables users of participating schools and libraries to borrow two titles, The Fat Boy Chronicles and Red Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky without waitlists or holds until July 9th.
The idea behind the OverDrive Summer Read program is to provide students who don’t have access to their school’s physical library a digital reading option and to remind them that their OverDrive digital library is open all summer long. We support reading anytime, anywhere and providing engaging content can help prevent the dreaded Summer Slide.
To help spread the word we’ve created marketing materials for your reference and tomorrow we’ll have an interview with the authors of The Fat Boy Chronicles so be sure to check back on the blog and share their story. This program was made possible by Sleeping Bear Press and Cherry Lake Publishing.
About The Authors Sandra Dallas is an award-winning author, dubbed as the quintessential American voice" by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. She is the recipient of the Women Writing the West Willa Award and the two-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award. For 25 years, Dallas worked as a reporter covering the Rocky Mountain region for Business Week, and started writing fiction in 1990. She has written several novels some of which that have been optioned for films.
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Beer and Wine Fridge of Awesomeness
| Jamie Bailey from Initial State, the Internet of Things (IoT) data solutions company, recently posted this how-to for creating a Beer/Wine Fridge of Awesomeness:
I especially like this project’s inventiveness and use of a few different technologies. Along with the Raspberry Pi, door sensor, and temperature sensor, they’re using a Wii Balance Board to sense the weight of the refrigerator to get a count of the bottles inside. This tutorial is especially thorough and includes all the code, bill of materials, wiring diagrams, and a nice guide to connecting the Wii Balance Board to a Raspberry Pi over Bluetooth. So if you want to make your own version of this network-connected refrigerator, the trail is blazed. The post Beer and Wine Fridge of Awesomeness appeared first on Raspberry Pi. |
Kindle Basic 2014 Touch – Contest
| Every month we give away one of the e-readers sitting in our studio that we used for a past review. Today we would like to run a contest for the Amazon Kindle, which is their entry level basic model. It came out in late 2014 and is the first cheap Kindle to have a touchscreen. We really liked the Basic Kindle here at Good e-Reader. It only costs 75$ and is perfect for anyone who has never had a e-reader in the past, or has an older model. It is in perfect condition as it simply sat in our studio and was reviewed/compared against other popular devices. In order to be in the running to win this, its really quite easy! Simply subscribe to our YouTube channel and leave a comment on the Contest Giveaway and let us know you did it. If you have already subscribed, follow us on Twitter @goodereader
Kindle Basic 2014 Touch – Contest is a post from: Good e-Reader |
