Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: The Nook
With Amazon.com in total domination of book sales, forcing old chief sellers like Borders to go completely bankrupt, the still thriving Barnes & Noble just upped the ante in the fight for book sales. Well, not really “books”. Since Amazon released the Kindle in October 2007, e-books have caused a severe drop in tangible book sales because of its $9.99 price policy per e-book. So it was no surprise that Barnes & Noble, the leader in non-virtual book selling, had to join the current times.
Released exactly 2 years after the Kindle, B&N unleashed its version of e-readers, The Nook (pictured above). Priced at the same $259 with the same $9.99 book purchases, it is almost identical to the Kindle and the Sony E-Reader. However, the Nook has a color display screen and has the compatibility to preview any e-book when walked into a Barnes & Noble store. Books can also be lent to friends for two weeks at any time.
This is just another example in a bigger issue that the world is slowly adjusting and adapting to the electronic world. There is a fear that someday books, publishing houses, libraries, book stores, and etc. will be figments of our memories. This is definitely bad for book publishing companies but I think that, in the long run, it will be for the better. The anxiety of people with the change from tangible to intangible was the same as when the computer was first introduced years ago and when the Internet became a part of everyday lives. I think it’s time to just accept the new way of life and adhere. It’s not a bad thing that technology is expanding…
