Annual next device speculation!

[patgolfneb]

With Google following the recent offerings of other heavyweights like Samsung is BN preparing a hardware upgrade for next Christmas? If so what features should it have? Given the price pressure I believe BN can choose one of two directions. Either become even more reader and "Julie" centric, focusing on lowering device cost or add new features. If new features are added ir and bluetooth would be my leaders. NFC has already been hinted at. Gps would be a weak third. With the increasing competition improvements in the shopping experience and reader app make the most sense.

[TnTexas]

If they're making as little profit on each device as people claim they are, it doesn't make much sense to me to release another tablet-esque device - not with the current (and sure-to-be upcoming) competition in the 7" tablet market.

[bobstro]

If we're into wild speculation, I hope B&N get out of the hardware business and instead focus on making their reader software the best reading experience it can be. It's time to realize that the NC and NT are really nothing more than basic Android tablets running a B&N shell (launcher) and reader app. The rest is lock down. The fixes should include numerous fixes to long-standing problems, and improving synchronization between devices. Allow shelving and reading position metadata to by synchronized for all content, not just B&N content. Expand the existing B&N "cloud storage" to include non-B&N books to make B&N our "personal library". Charge a reasonable annual fee as needed to make this profitable. Port the library and home screen (launcher) to generic Android platforms.

Offer existing NOOK Color and Tablet owners a free upgrade to a standard Android distribution. CyanogenMod already runs beautifully on these devices, and is open source, reducing costs to B&N. Be classy and fund some CM development. Don't load the Google Market/Play Store if not comfortable with that idea, but don't actively try to disable it either. Get ouf of worrying about what users do besides reading, and focus exclusively on reading.

I think this would both get B&N out of the losing hardware price wars, while simultaneously expanding their market with full functionality to a much wider range of devices. Hell, get some community members engaged with turning the Kindle Fire into a full B&N reader and fight Amazon on their own hardware! Make B&N's app what people demand to be able to read with.

B&N already has 3 separate development efforts (NOOK App, NC/NT and NST/NSTG). This would consolidate these, and unify the development effort towards common goals and functionality. B&N already has cloud storage capacity. If offered for charge for "expanded storage", cloud storage/sync can be a revenue stream. While B&N really innovated with the NC and, to a lesser degree with the NT, competition is heating up on the hardware front, and hardware profit margins are already razor thin.

Once opened up, the NT platform can continue to be offered as a "reader plus". Development has already been funded. For future generations, adopt an OEM device for the "NOOK" of the year, much as Google changes manufacturers for the flagship Nexus line each year.

[keriflur]

I think it would be a huge mistake to stop making e-ink (or other reflective screen) readers.  I know they would lose me as a customer, and they'd likely lose anyone else who dislikes reading on a tablet.

I have no real speculation as to what they'll do next, so I'll go with the least likely (but still theoretically possible) idea.  I'd like to see them be first to market with an affordable mirasol or liquivista reader.

[bobstro]

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keriflur wrote:

I think it would be a huge mistake to stop making e-ink (or other reflective screen) readers.  I know they would lose me as a customer, and they'd likely lose anyone else who dislikes reading on a tablet.

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They've already made the expensive investment in the existing hardware devices, so they don't necessarily need to discontinue them. They could continue to sell the existing NST, NSTG and NT as "entry level" devices indefinitely, with pricing (hopefully) continuing to drop as B&N recovers development costs and sees manufacturing efficiencies improve.

My main point is that B&N might be better served by getting out of the hardware rat race and give up on competing with Google's Nexus pricing, and Apple's latest display innovations, and instead focus on making reading with B&N the best possible experience. After all, the B&N devices really are just Android tablets with a (restrictive) software shell running. I don't really care who made the underlying hardware when it comes time to read, but I do care that the software should function well.

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I have no real speculation as to what they'll do next, so I'll go with the least likely (but still theoretically possible) idea.  I'd like to see them be first to market with an affordable mirasol or liquivista reader.

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I'd like to see a really good B&N reader suite (library, reader, store, cloud, multi-device sync) on such a display, whoever makes the hardware!

[keriflur]

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bobstro wrote:

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keriflur wrote:

I think it would be a huge mistake to stop making e-ink (or other reflective screen) readers.  I know they would lose me as a customer, and they'd likely lose anyone else who dislikes reading on a tablet.

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They've already made the expensive investment in the existing hardware devices, so they don't necessarily need to discontinue them. They could continue to sell the existing NST, NSTG and NT as "entry level" devices indefinitely, with pricing (hopefully) continuing to drop as B&N recovers development costs and sees manufacturing efficiencies improve.

My main point is that B&N might be better served by getting out of the hardware rat race and give up on competing with Google's Nexus pricing, and Apple's latest display innovations, and instead focus on making reading with B&N the best possible experience. After all, the B&N devices really are just Android tablets with a (restrictive) software shell running. I don't really care who made the underlying hardware when it comes time to read, but I do care that the software should function well.

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I have no real speculation as to what they'll do next, so I'll go with the least likely (but still theoretically possible) idea.  I'd like to see them be first to market with an affordable mirasol or liquivista reader.

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I'd like to see a really good B&N reader suite (library, reader, store, cloud, multi-device sync) on such a display, whoever makes the hardware!

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I guess what I mean is that if B&N announced that they were no longer going to develop any new e-ink nooks, I would stop buying B&N ebooks.  I would do that because B&N ebooks have B&N's somewhat proprietary DRM on them, and I would want to be able to use my books on whatever device I purchased next, regardless of whether it had a B&N application (ideally without stripping DRM).  Also, if I do have to strip DRM (say, to go to kindle, if Kobo pulls out of the market), the Adobe Adept DRM is easier to strip, from what I've seen online, and safer for me than using the Calibre plugin to strip B&N DRM (the plugin stores your credit card number in an easily accessible field - I do not want that!).

Right now there are no e-ink devices that I know of, that are in the nook price range, that allow the user to install the B&N reading app without rooting.  And even if I could install it, it's not optimized for e-ink.  Kobo and kindle would be my best chance to keep reading ebooks, and those devices are linked to their respective stores.  Assuming they stay in the market, and tech keeps advancing - why would I want a nook with 2010 tech when I could have whatever the latest and greatest is somewhere else?  And why would I keep buying B&N ebooks if that means I have to strip DRM for each book just to read it on my new device?

So, while I see your point - B&N could focus on getting the software right instead of splitting their resources btw software and hardware, especially since it's so hard to be competitive in hardware - I don't fully agree that it would be in their best interest to drop the e-ink nooks.  Tablet and NC, yes, but e-ink, no.  Not unless the e-ink/reflective market changes completely.

[patgolfneb]

Eventually BN will have to choose what it does better than anyone else. I feel the reader app and NST are the likely choices. If you are # 1 even in a smaller niche you can do well. For example all of Chrysler's operating profit the past 2 years has come from mini vans and Jeeps. It is hard to see BN as a tablet maker long term. The app available on many devices and e readers seem sustainable. Allowing tablet makers to sell nook authorized or nook branded devices for which BN has less development responsibility seems likely. For example Microsoft could be responsible for the tablet part of the market and BN the e reader part. I suspect NFC and basic Internet will be part of all devices.

[TnTexas]

keriflur: So, while I see your point - B&N could focus on getting the software right instead of splitting their resources btw software and hardware, especially since it's so hard to be competitive in hardware - I don't fully agree that it would be in their best interest to drop the e-ink nooks.  Tablet and NC, yes, but e-ink, no.  Not unless the e-ink/reflective market changes completely.

While I laureled bobstro's post just before this, I agree with this too. The e-ink market is a completely different animal from the tablet/tablet-esque market, and I think B&N has a fighting chance there. So keeping that line active would probably be in their best interest. But continuing to actively develop the Color and Tablet is probably a losing game for them.

[doncr]

Let's say for sake of discussion a new iPad is announced in the coming months with a 7" screen.  

At that point, BN is going to have to convince "Julie" that what BN offers in a Nook Tablet (or some yet-to-be-released device) is a better buy than the Apple device as an eReader for her.  

These novel-hungry Julies of the country will ask, "What would the extra ~$200 for the Apple device actually get me over the Nook tablet?  

BN had better hope that the immediate answer to that question is not "a better eReading experience" because there's no way that BN is going to compete in ecosystems with Apple, and a BN tablet would also likely not compete hardware-wise with a new iPad.  

Whatever BN comes up with as a more affordable option to this future Apple device had better leave BN's #1 customer demographic thinking, "That's OK - I don't need to spend the extra money because my Nook is the best device available for my eReading needs."

In order for BN to produce that sentiment, it's going to depend on the same thing that a number of you have already pointed out - BN's success in the color eReader/tablet market going forward will likely hinge on improvements in software and not hardware.

[bobstro]

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doncr wrote:

[...] These novel-hungry Julies of the country will ask, "What would the extra ~$200 for the Apple device actually get me over the Nook tablet?  

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I don't think the Apple iPads we've seen to date are really B&N's competition. They're in a different class hardware-wise, and certainly cost-wise. I do think they're feeling the competition in the 7 inch, sub-$250 market. If B&N wants to continue to play in the hardware market, that's more of a question of "What would the extra ~$50 for the <Android> device actually get me over the NOOK Tablet?" If that difference drops below $50, the cost difference begins to mean less and less. You won't buy any reader when your kids don't have shoes. (At least I hope not.) The only answer besides basic cost is "software". (The screen technology and smaller form factor of the NST/NSTG place it in, IMO, a different class. I'm comparing Tablets to tablets as it were.)

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[...] Whatever BN comes up with as a more affordable option to this future Apple device had better leave BN's #1 customer demographic thinking, "That's OK - I don't need to spend the extra money because my Nook is the best device available for my eReading needs."

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I agree, though I am not convinced "my NOOK" needs to be built by B&N. If the B&N suite were ported to a generic Android platform, it could be anything and more than one of anything. This isn't just speculation. Due to shortcomings in the B&N suite, I've converted my NOOKs to Mantano readers. "My Mantano" is a NST at the beach, or when I need long battery life for travel, a bedside NC for late night reading, and a Samsung 7 inch tablet for day-to-day business use. All are running the same software with the same features on every device, with my library fully synced. I am really frustrated that I had to abandon B&N's ecosystem to get to this point. I really did like the 1.4x B&N software, but too many things broke or were unnecessarily difficult to make it viable for my needs. I would love to have B&N's Library be my primary launcher on these same devices, launching non-ebook apps as a secondary function. To their credit, I really love the way B&N has new content show up on the Today shelf where I notice it, all with little or no action on my part. 

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In order for BN to produce that sentiment, it's going to depend on the same thing that a number of you have already pointed out - BN's success in the color eReader/tablet market going forward will likely hinge on improvements in software and not hardware.

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I'd add customer focus -- including "non-B&N stuff". My NOOKs are the most personalized of any electronic device I have ever owned. I've bought too many cases for them, put skins on them and generally made them mine. I was a B&N convert until they made it clear that they placed their vision of my device ahead of mine.