Barnes & Noble, Microsoft ink $300M deal on e-reading

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

I posted this in the Nook Book Discussion forum as well.  This is big news for B&N and the Nook!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57423957-75/barnes-noble-microsoft-ink-$300m-deal-on-e-reading/

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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AlanNJ wrote:

I posted this in the Nook Book Discussion forum as well.

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That's great;  now whatever intelligent discussion is created, it will be split among at least four threads (at the time of this writing).  Some message boards ban duplicate posts.  Suggestion:  Let's keep the on-topic posts in the "Community Room".

[keriflur]

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DeanGibson wrote:

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AlanNJ wrote:

I posted this in the Nook Book Discussion forum as well.

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That's great;  now whatever intelligent discussion is created, it will be split among at least four threads (at the time of this writing).  Some message boards ban duplicate posts.  Suggestion:  Let's keep the on-topic posts in the "Community Room".

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Actually, let's keep them all in the Nook Book Discussion forum, where the conversation is already going on...

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

That works for me.  The only reason I posted in both places (and admitted it) was because I know some users don't necessarily frequent both forums and felt this was important news.

[gb18]

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AlanNJ wrote:

That works for me.  The only reason I posted in both places (and admitted it) was because I know some users don't necessarily frequent both forums and felt this was important news.

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I agree.  Post it wherever you like.  Or maybe "cross-link" it.  Most people don't read all the boards.

The board police here sometimes offer too much help on the wrong topics.

[Marty-TX]

Thanks, Alan.  The possible spin-off of Nook has been talked about all year, but hooking up with Microsoft is a real surprise.  Today's stock price hit $26.00 before dropping back to $20.75. 

B&N and Microsoft do have something in common:  neither can get all the bugs out of their software!

[keriflur]

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Marty-TX wrote:

Thanks, Alan.  The possible spin-off of Nook has been talked about all year, but hooking up with Microsoft is a real surprise.  Today's stock price hit $26.00 before dropping back to $20.75. 

B&N and Microsoft do have something in common:  neither can get all the bugs out of their software!

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LOL yes, they both could stand to spend a bit more time with testing.

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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gb18 wrote:

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AlanNJ wrote:

That works for me.  The only reason I posted in both places (and admitted it) was because I know some users don't necessarily frequent both forums and felt this was important news.

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I agree.  Post it wherever you like.  Or maybe "cross-link" it.  Most people don't read all the boards.

The board police here sometimes offer too much help on the wrong topics.

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I'm not familiar with how to "cross-link" an item...If it saves effort I'm all for it!

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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Marty-TX wrote:

Thanks, Alan.  The possible spin-off of Nook has been talked about all year, but hooking up with Microsoft is a real surprise.  Today's stock price hit $26.00 before dropping back to $20.75. 

B&N and Microsoft do have something in common:  neither can get all the bugs out of their software!

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Please feel free to post which company (not limited to B&N and MS) does get all the bugs out of their software.  

[keriflur]

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AlanNJ wrote:

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gb18 wrote:

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AlanNJ wrote:

That works for me.  The only reason I posted in both places (and admitted it) was because I know some users don't necessarily frequent both forums and felt this was important news.

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I agree.  Post it wherever you like.  Or maybe "cross-link" it.  Most people don't read all the boards.

The board police here sometimes offer too much help on the wrong topics.

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I'm not familiar with how to "cross-link" an item...If it saves effort I'm all for it!

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Just get the link for the page that you make the first post on, and then post that link in all the new posts, so the readers will be taken to the original article and discussion in your original post. 

[DeanGibson Distinguished Bibliophile]

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gb18 wrote:

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AlanNJ wrote:

That works for me.  The only reason I posted in both places (and admitted it) was because I know some users don't necessarily frequent both forums and felt this was important news.

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I agree.  Post it wherever you like.  Or maybe "cross-link" it.  Most people don't read all the boards.

The board police here sometimes offer too much help on the wrong topics.

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Are you the one that sets policy for B&N boards???  Here's what B&N's policy states ( http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/New-to-the-B-N-Community/B-amp-N-Community-Usage-Guidelines/m... ) in part:

Be relevant.

• Make sure your contributions are relevant to the mission of the community and to the specific forum or blog where you post.

This a reflection of the almost UNIVERSAL Internet policy against cross-posting:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossposting  Most message boards penalize cross-posting.

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However, more importantly, it reflects the belief of "I know what you need" over the individual's desire to CHOOSE FOR THEMSELVES what they want (in this case, to read).  It is this belief, common in marketing, that makes me DESPISE most marketeers.

The alternate belief, that an individual gets to CHOOSE what he/she reads, is so prevalent in the USA, that over 200 million phone numbers are on the FTC's "Do Not Call" list.  Read here to see what kind of SCUM many of these marketeers are:  http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/07/telemarketing-remember-just-how-bad-it-was.ars  Then we have real criminals, who ignore the "Do Not Call" list with a slew of bogus calls offering to reduce your interest rate.  WHICHEVER Presidential candidate promises to put the first 500 such callers in prison within 90 days of assuming office, will get my vote, irrespective of his other policies.

Now, I'm not remotely suggesting that anyone here is scum or a criminal.  However, the philosophy expounded by gb18 is the same old "I know what you need".

Why do you think B&N has different forums?  Is it so the guidelines can be ignored if the message is "important enough"?  The ultimate issue is, who gets to choose?  I stand with the 200 million phone numbers that have decided that it is their choice to reject information without even knowing what it is.  That's why we have forums dedicated to a specific topic.

IT IS NOT REQUIRED THAT EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THE B&N/MICROSOFT DEAL.  None of it has anything to do with the actual usage of Nooks.  Yes, it's nice to know.  The first time.  In the appropriate forum, not blasted all over the message board.  If I want to read about it (and I do), I would go to the "Community Room".  If someone wants to read about the Nook Tablet and nothing else, that is their choice, not mine, GB18's, or anyone else (except the B&N staff).

Finally, adding "board police" to the message is an "ad hominem" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem ) attack, and also against B&N guidelines.

[keriflur]

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DeanGibson wrote:

Be relevant.

• Make sure your contributions are relevant to the mission of the community and to the specific forum or blog where you post.

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This seems subjective, does it not?

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DeanGibson wrote: 

IT IS NOT REQUIRED THAT EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THE B&N/MICROSOFT DEAL.  None of it has anything to do with the actual usage of Nooks.

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And this would be your subjective opinion on the subject.  Others may think differently.

You've made a great argument against the idea of any one person determining what others need to read.  However, that also means that you don't get to choose what others read either.  Just sayin'.  Really don't care all that much. 

[Sun_Cat]

What we really need is the Nook Central forum that Alex launched very briefly a couple of months ago. It still exists (follow the link in the previous sentence) but it's empty and inactive. No posting allowed.

Alex, any plans for a re-launch?

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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DeanGibson wrote:

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IT IS NOT REQUIRED THAT EVERYONE KNOW ABOUT THE B&N/MICROSOFT DEAL.  None of it has anything to do with the actual usage of Nooks.  Yes, it's nice to know.  The first time.  In the appropriate forum, not blasted all over the message board.  If I want to read about it (and I do), I would go to the "Community Room".  If someone wants to read about the Nook Tablet and nothing else, that is their choice, not mine, GB18's, or anyone else (except the B&N staff).

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THAT was exactly my point in the first place by posting on two different boards.  I don't go to the "Community Room" and until this minute didn't even know anything was posted there.  There are many boards I don't frequent on this website and my assumption is that many others are the same way.

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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keriflur wrote:

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AlanNJ wrote:

I'm not familiar with how to "cross-link" an item...If it saves effort I'm all for it!

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Just get the link for the page that you make the first post on, and then post that link in all the new posts, so the readers will be taken to the original article and discussion in your original post. 

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So you're just saying to post a link on other boards saying for example "See original post here"?  Honestly I still think people will respond to both posts.  Maybe I'm wrong though.

[keriflur]

If the linked article is only in the original post, they'll need to go to that thread to read it, and so will be more likely to respond there, in theory. But, yes, people will do whatever they're going to do. Hence the active posting in this thread. ;-)

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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keriflur wrote:
If the linked article is only in the original post, they'll need to go to that thread to read it, and so will be more likely to respond there, in theory. But, yes, people will do whatever they're going to do. Hence the active posting in this thread. ;-)

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My thinking is that if the original poster gives enough of a description of the subject the posting is about then people will likely reply to that posting.  How was that for a sentence?  

[Loyd]

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AlanNJ wrote:

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Marty-TX wrote:

Thanks, Alan.  The possible spin-off of Nook has been talked about all year, but hooking up with Microsoft is a real surprise.  Today's stock price hit $26.00 before dropping back to $20.75. 

B&N and Microsoft do have something in common:  neither can get all the bugs out of their software!

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Please feel free to post which company (not limited to B&N and MS) does get all the bugs out of their software.  

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NASA. The guidance program for the space shuttle was a 50 KB program that they worked every single bug out of. It cost $1000 a line in 1980's monty to do it though.

I guess they just didn't want to lose that thing.

[Jadjuka]

I've got a question but I think mostly its AlanNJ that could best explain this or answer this for me. With the marriage of BN to MC, do you think that the nooks will continue to still be supported for macs? Best thing I can think of is my whole family uses macs. Been with it since OS6. 

Anyways my question is with MC being as they are, does this mean the nooks and the nook apps now be Windows only or will they still continue to be available/usable for both platforms? One thing I'm sort of cringing on is having any future nooks be more compatible or have extra features if you use Windows or even an XBox Live account to some extent or other.

This is just me now so anyone out there please don't hate; but I use Windows at school and they are frustrating which is why I like OSX. But I'd hate to have to take my nook to school for an update or for extra goodies. Not just Windows being a pain but....has anyone done any testing on those mice and keyboards?! I swear I can grow spores, molds, and fungi off of incubating those mice and keyboards alone. O.O

[AlanNJ Inspired Bibliophile]

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Jadjuka wrote:

I've got a question but I think mostly its AlanNJ that could best explain this or answer this for me. With the marriage of BN to MC, do you think that the nooks will continue to still be supported for macs? Best thing I can think of is my whole family uses macs. Been with it since OS6. 

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I'm not sure why I would have any of these answers?  Nobody knows what will happen over time.