Leonard Riggio has died.

[GA Russell]

Leonard Riggio, the founder of Barnes & Noble, has died at 83. RIP.

https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/us/le...83/ar-AA1pwIqL

Regarding eBooks, I think that Riggio will be remembered for lowering the retail price of the Nook. Prior to that decision, eBook readers were expensive. Remember?

[DNSB]

Sorry but I have to disagree.

The Kindle, Nook, Sony, etc. ereaders did not drop their prices until Kobo released their original ereader at a much lower price point. When released in May, 2010, the Kobo was priced at $149 US which was $110 less than than the $259 US that Amazon Kindle was priced at. Shortly after the Kobo was released, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to $189 US. The original Nook made it's debut in November, 2009 at $259 US (WiFi and AT&T 3G). The WiFi only Nook was released in June, 2010 at $149. Sony's devices released in August, 2010 ranged from the PRS-350 priced at $179 US, the PRS-650 priced at $229 US and the PRS-950 priced at $299 US. Kobo released the Kobo WiFi in October, 2010 priced at $139 US though I picked mine up to $99 Cdn.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Sorry but I have to disagree.

The Kindle, Nook, Sony, etc. ereaders did not drop their prices until Kobo released their original ereader at a much lower price point. When released in May, 2010, the Kobo was priced at $149 US which was $110 less than than the $259 US that Amazon Kindle was priced at. Shortly after the Kobo was released, Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle to $189 US. The original Nook made it's debut in November, 2009 at $259 US (WiFi and AT&T 3G). The WiFi only Nook was released in June, 2010 at $149. Sony's devices released in August, 2010 ranged from the PRS-350 priced at $179 US, the PRS-650 priced at $229 US and the PRS-950 priced at $299 US. Kobo released the Kobo WiFi in October, 2010 priced at $139 US though I picked mine up to $99 Cdn.

But none of them dropped to $75 as early as Barnes & Noble. I bought my first eReader, the Nook Simple Touch for $75 in December of 2011. That was a sale price, but when they came out with the Simple Touch GlowLight in early 2012, I believe, the regular Simple Touches were regularly below $100 and often on sale in the $75 range. I think the Kindle 4 Basic came out in early 2012 (announced at the end of September in 2011). But the Simple Touch was "touch" and the Simple Touch with GlowLight was front-lit, so Nook lead the way with cheap, "full featured" eBook readers at one point. (They all followed pretty closely on each other, however.)

The early Nooks were also known for being customizable.

RIP Leonard Riggio. At least Barnes & Noble (the name anyhow) was still around when he died.