Nook comes with $50 B&N gift certificate


There’s a pretty sweet deal brewing in the ebook world through the end of the June. From now until the end of the month, Barnes & Noble is offering up a $50 gift card with every Nook purchase.

It’s a nice way to get you started on your ebook craze. One of my many complaints about the current state of ebooks is price. I just can’t justify most of the prices without the option to lend/share/resell my books (I realize I sound a bit like Bradbury here). The Nook, though, does offer the option to lend books, which is leaps above the way things were just a year ago. Unfortunately for consumers, B&N prices tend to err on the high side when it comes to digital content. A lot of titles are pushing $20 or falling somewhere between $15 and $20, which means you’ll get three books – max – out of that gift card.

Still, if you were considering one already this might be enough to push you over the edge.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

  

Nook is back in stock with free shipping

Barnes and Noble Nook.Barnes & Noble has finally gotten its Nook production to catch up with consumer demand, and it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day. The company is using the holiday of love to help market its Kindle competitor, throwing in some extra goodies just in case you weren’t already sold on the device.

When you order you’ll get access to the “More in Store” content from Barnes & Noble, which includes a short story from Adriana Trigiani, a red velvet cupcake recipe by Anne Byrn, aka Cake Mix Doctor, and access to a regular feature called “Read Between the Wines,” which is about pairing your books with your vintage of choice.

If you order online your Nook will be shipped for free. If you prefer the in-store experience, the device will be available starting February 10th.

Source: Engadget

  

2010: tablets over ereaders

Apple tablet?Everyone’s saying it. I’m jumping on board. Whatever your feelings about tablets – they should exist, they shouldn’t, they’re pointless, they’re great – there’s no denying the potential market impact of a quality tablet. Quality is the key factor here. Much like ereaders, which no one cared about until the Kindle came around, tablets need a frontrunner, something to rally around and aspire to beat. My bet, like so many others, is on the Apple tablet.

It’s not just that I trust Apple, which I do, but that the market is so ripe for a Apple created device. The world has fallen in love with the iPhone and the iPod Touch, the App Store continues to grow at alarming rates, and everyone is imitating multi-touch wherever it makes sense and in plenty of places it doesn’t. Imagine your iPod Touch on ‘roids, powerful enough to run 1080p video, do some simple editing, and wirelessly post to YouTube. Did I mention you can surf the web and read your ebooks? How much would you pay for a device like that? $500? $600? More?

Amazon and Barnes & Noble don’t think the consumer’s financial tolerance is so high. I do. I think people would be willing to spend as much as a grand on an Apple tablet because it could potentially do everything I mentioned above. In the face of that kind of device, the Kindle starts to look a lot like the Peek, specializing in a service handled just as well, if not better, by a more versatile device.

The one thing that could stall tablets for another year is premature release. Everyone knows the tablet is the next big thing, but if it gets rushed, consumers could see the failed device as a reason to buy an ereader. Wait until the tablet people get it right before diving in.

What do you think? Is this the beginning of the end for ereaders? Will they still have their place in the market? Can they get cheap enough to stay relevant?

  

Nook owners will be happy with the “holiday certificate”

Barnes and Noble nook.In a post regarding Nook delays yesterday I mentioned the Barnes & Noble holiday certificate, a gift card that would be sent to Nook pre-orderers who wouldn’t receive the device by Christmas. There was also some talk of a $10 gift card. Believe me, you want the holiday certificate.

A reader over at The Consumerist emailed in the image he received from Barnes & Noble this week. It included the following information:

If for whatever reason we are not able to ship your Nook in time for arrival by December 24th, with our sincerest apologies, we will send you an email notification on December 23rd with a $100 Barnes&Noble.com Online Gift Certificate to use as you wish at BN.com, including for eBooks that can be enjoyed immediately on your devices enabled with free Barnes & Noble eReader software, and soon, your Nook.

Yup. A hundred big ones for your patience. All you people bitching about canceling your pre-order should shut up and enjoy at least ten free books. For me, this would completely make up for any kind of “lost time” associated with the delay.

Source: The Consumerist

  

More Nook shipments pushed back

Nook won't be home for Christmas.There seems to be a never ending string of delays associated with Nook shipments. Barnes and Noble’s Mary Ellen Keating, the senior VP of corporate communications and public affairs, has confirmed to TechCrunch that more shipments have indeed been delayed. It seems the company will be offering a holiday gift cretificate and a $10 gift card (maybe not both to every customer) to assuage the anger of affected customers.

I’m amazed B&N couldn’t see this coming. The company made a huge deal about the announcement and for good reason. The device is cool, much better than a Kindle, and it previewed some features that Amazon later copied for Kindle users. So why so many problems? A commenter over at TechCrunch ordered his device on November 12th. That’s a two-month delay without much notice.

The worst part of the story is that B&N had to know this was coming, but it chose to delay giving customers information until a week before Christmas in some cases. That’s pretty terrible PR, regardless of how good the device turns out to be.