What Happens to Nookcolor if B&N Closes??

[cherylray]

Why are you worried about B&N closing in 2017? Isn't the world supposed to end this year anyway

[wllbrod5]

You know even if BN closes its physical stores I am almost certain Nook will continue just like Amazon with microsoft standing behind Nook i think it will be around for awhile.The nook is the best reader on the market they just got to improve their on line experience to better amazons kindle there is where microsoft comes in. I wouldnt worry just yet have faith.

[Bluepen61]

Root it with ManualNooter or install CM7 on emmc and life goes on!

[AGWoodard]

The question isn't "IF" B&N is going to close, but "WHEN".   

[bobstro]

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AGWoodard wrote:

The question isn't "IF" B&N is going to close, but "WHEN".   

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Well yes, I think that can be said for any company. The trick is to have it happen after you've quit caring. So long as you've backed up your ebooks so you can access them if their cloud closes, the device will keep working just fine.

I'd be a lot more concerned if I'd bought an Oldsmobile shortly before they went under. The NOOK Color was never all that expensive a device, and the books can be read using other software just fine. Some of the 'enhanced' titles might be more of a concern, but otherwise, the DRMed epub files can be read with other software.

I just hope B&N don't needlessly hasten their own demise.

[keriflur]

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AGWoodard wrote:

The question isn't "IF" B&N is going to close, but "WHEN".   

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LOL.  One day Google will close, and Amazon.  One day each of us will die.  One day the human species will cease to exist.  One day the planet will freeze over/dry up/become entirely ocean/cease to have an atmosphere (pick your favorite).

I don't see the need to be alarmist about any of it.

Even if B&N were to close in the foreseeable future, no one is going to go around rounding up all the nook owners and taking their nooks away.  Well, unless an anti-nook regime takes over the government, or an anti-tech regime that forces us back to a feudal system and puts all of the tech lovers into a huge, evolving prison that's actually shrunk down to the size of a charm on a keychain.  Oh wait, that's the plot of INCARCERON, not reality.  

[BruceMcF]

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Omnigeek wrote:

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• You can download your B&N EPUBs to a laptop or desktop computer now and archive them yourself.  There are even tools to remove the DRM although you must be warned that at a minimum they violate your purchase agreement and ultimately could be viewed as a civil or criminal offense.

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Note that one explicit exception to the laws against cracking DRM is that its legal to crack a DRM when the DRM is no longer supported. So while it is at present illegal to distribute software for the sole purpose of circumventing the DRM on a B&N book, that restriction vanishes in the hypothetical "B&N has folded, and now the books can no longer be opened" scenario. So the software to crack the B&N DRM is likely to be much more widely available if B&N shuts down their B&N online store and turns off their DRM system.

So pragmatically, what happens is that the ability to buy books directly with a stock Nook Color or Nook Tablet in this "2017" (when you'll likely be able to pick up equivalent hardware for $20 to $50 in real terms) is lost. So either tether your Nook and download over the wire, or root it and download the app for your preferred ebook source and get books directly that way.

IOW, no biggie. So long as (as noted in the quote), you have been careful to safely backup your files, the only problem is that you'll be using hardware that was severely compromised by the technical abilities of 2009/2010, and there'll be much sweeter hardware available (lighter, longer battery life, better screen, more storage capacity) for very little money.

[keriflur]

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BruceMcF wrote:

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Omnigeek wrote:

...

• You can download your B&N EPUBs to a laptop or desktop computer now and archive them yourself.  There are even tools to remove the DRM although you must be warned that at a minimum they violate your purchase agreement and ultimately could be viewed as a civil or criminal offense.

---

Note that one explicit exception to the laws against cracking DRM is that its legal to crack a DRM when the DRM is no longer supported. So while it is at present illegal to distribute software for the sole purpose of circumventing the DRM on a B&N book, that restriction vanishes in the hypothetical "B&N has folded, and now the books can no longer be opened" scenario. So the software to crack the B&N DRM is likely to be much more widely available if B&N shuts down their B&N online store and turns off their DRM system.

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I seem to recall this only being the case for music files (Though if I recall correctly the entire DCMA is expired, so what it states is ultimately irrelevant anyway).  That said, Adobe will still be around and they support the format, so if this applied, the legal option would be to use ADE to sideload the files to another epub-reading device.

Regardless, it is not hard to remove the DRM.  The software is already widely available and easy to find through Google.  If a user is truly removing DRM for their own personal use on their own device, I don't think it's likely they would be caught let alone prosecuted.*

* However, if they're then posting those files for others to torrent, they should and hopefully would be caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of the original file format or DRM.

[patgolfneb]

I think we would have plenty of warning and likely 14-30 days access if BN went bye bye.  Even then it is unlikely no one would buy their customer lists and it is possible if you could prove you purchased a copy publishers might have some obligation to honor your license by replacing your copy if something shockingly rapid happened. Does any one have examples from music? Borders did not handle their own e books so I wonder if that is a relevent comparison? I don't think any of Borders lost access to their books did they?

[keriflur]

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patgolfneb wrote:

Borders did not handle their own e books so I wonder if that is a relevent comparison? I don't think any of Borders lost access to their books did they?

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A number of Borders people stated that they did not get emails telling them that their accounts were changing and that once they found out it was too late to do anything about it.  I can only assume that those people weren't on a forum like this one - could you imagine B&N going under and no one mentioning it here?

Regardless, everyone should back up their books and keep their backups current and in a safe place.  If you're reading this and don't know how to back up, please ask or do a search to learn more.  This is the single biggest thing you can do to ensure you can still read your books, for any reason, not just store closure.

[5ivedom]

Just a quick note.

B&N is spinning out Nook and eBooks division as a separate company. Microsoft is investing $300 million in it now and $300 million over the years for a 18% or so stake.

So the chances of Nook disappearing are somewhat low/remote at this point of time.

Here's some discussion: http://www.forbes.com/sites/abegarver/2012/06/06/barnes-noble-is-newco-nook-relevant/

If Nook does become a separate company that is in partnership with Microsoft and thus the DEFAULT ebook provider for Windows 8 PCs.

Then the chances of Nook disappearing go down considerably.

[BruceMcF]

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5ivedom wrote:

Just a quick note.

B&N is spinning out Nook and eBooks division as a separate company. Microsoft is investing $300 million in it now and $300 million over the years for a 18% or so stake.

So the chances of Nook disappearing are somewhat low/remote at this point of time.

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Yes, this is a big part of why its a "hypothetical 2017 or later" scenario. Its certainly not going to happen in the coming few years, but five years is a long time in the electroics industry, so who knows what'll be happening by 2017.

Actually more relevant to me than 2014/2015, since a five year or more timeline when I would be more likely to want to re-read a book or manga series I had long since taken off the Nook itself.

[keriflur]

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BruceMcF wrote:

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5ivedom wrote:

Just a quick note.

B&N is spinning out Nook and eBooks division as a separate company. Microsoft is investing $300 million in it now and $300 million over the years for a 18% or so stake.

So the chances of Nook disappearing are somewhat low/remote at this point of time.

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Yes, this is a big part of why its a "hypothetical 2017 or later" scenario. Its certainly not going to happen in the coming few years, but five years is a long time in the electroics industry, so who knows what'll be happening by 2017.

Actually more relevant to me than 2014/2015, since a five year or more timeline when I would be more likely to want to re-read a book or manga series I had long since taken off the Nook itself.

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You are backing up anything you take off your nook, right?  If so, you'll be fine.