Last Days of the NOOK?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by nmyshkin

Indeed, from reading through forum posts one might conclude that e-reader users are some of the most opinionated people on the planet

Ereader users in general, probably not, but MR members are for sure.

That said, MR is far from the only place where the attitude "there is my opinion and then there are wrong opinions" seems to be ubiquitous. I mean, take your average family gathering in real life...

[Renate]

In a world where much is out of your control, being able to apply your particular tastes to your "vademecum" is a godsend.
For me:

• flush screen
• front light
• no buttons (Bluetooth clicker)
• auto sleep cover flap

The old Nooks (and even the new ones) don't meet these criteria.

[jviscosi]

Originally Posted by rcentros

maybe even Fry's

Fry's! 😭😭😭

[John F]

Originally Posted by nmyshkin

...

Reports of the demise of B&N have been greatly exaggerated. They're dying...and yet...they're not. Their e-reader production is going to end...and yet...it has not. It's hard to imagine any major corporate bookseller these days which would not be involved in the e-book business and not attempt to "capture" part of that business (and customers) with their own devices/software.

...

Books a Million?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by gforgiraffe39935

When you say ereader models, do you mean Best Buy USA and do you mean ereader models including NOOK?

The last time I saw a NOOK in a Best Buy USA was circa 2010.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhites are still sold in local Best Buy USA stores.

I saw Kobos and Nooks in Best Buy at least as late as 2012, I believe, because I know they had the Nook Simple Touches (2011) there and I think they also had the Simple Touches with Glowlight (2012). And I remember the Kobo Minis being there (at least the Minis), because they had them priced at about $50 or $60, near the end of their run. I remember kicking myself for not buying one when they were cheap.

Amazon, like many of the other retailers in Best Buy now, "rent" a section of the store. So, yes, you can buy a Kindle in Best Buy now, but it's not like Best Buy really carries them on their own. It's kind of like a flea market or a glorified consignment shop.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by jviscosi

Fry's! 😭😭😭

I hated to see them go.

[nmyshkin]

Originally Posted by John F

Books a Million?

Never heard of it. I had to look it up!

Perhaps I should have added "national" or "international"

[Julie Paradise]

Originally Posted by nmyshkin

[...]
I often wonder just how people read actual physical books in the now seemingly distant past. No fonts from Mars, no page-turn buttons (gasp!). Maybe they just didn't. But now you can have it your way (except when you can't). So if more people are reading because the lack of page-turn buttons or fonts galore were turning them away from actual books, that's a win, right?

Yeah, sometimes when I read reviews about such and such e-ink reader device being unusable because of xy aspect (colour, dark screen, pixelated once one scrawls into the screen, too light, too heavy, uneven lighting, ...), I wonder how people read books before, without front light or dark mode ... *rolleyes*

[John F]

Originally Posted by nmyshkin

Never heard of it. I had to look it up!

Perhaps I should have added "national" or "international"

"Find over 250 BAM locations nation-wide to serve you."

I guess. 250 U.S. stores isn't worth it.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by John F

Books a Million?

Books a Million does sell ebooks.
https://www.booksamillion.com/ebooks

[John F]

Originally Posted by Renate

Books a Million does sell ebooks.
https://www.booksamillion.com/ebooks

Oops?

I wonder how they do? I don't see any mention of ebooks on the home page. I take it they do not have any ereaders?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by John F

I wonder how they do?

They hide their light under a bushel.
There is tiny link at the bottom of the home page.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by John F

"Find over 250 BAM locations nation-wide to serve you."

I guess. 250 U.S. stores isn't worth it.

Considering the furthest west location is in South Dakota, claiming to be nation-wide is a bit of a stretch. If I do a search for a store location for say, San Franciso, California and keep expanding the search radius, the nearest store in is Rapid City, South Dakota. Note the attached image does not cover the entire US since the maximum search radius seems to be much less than the 3000 miles stated.

And for me, their ebook store is useless since the 23 items I checked all said "This item is only available to U.S. billing addresses." Even when I checked PD books, which was a nightmare in itself since there seems to be no way to search for ebooks, the message was the same.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Considering the furthest west location is in South Dakota, claiming to be nation-wide is a bit of a stretch. If I do a search for a store location for say, San Franciso, California and keep expanding the search radius, the nearest store in is Rapid City, South Dakota...

Same for me in Idaho. But buying eBooks doesn't require going to a brick and mortar store anyhow (apparently they only serve the U.S.?). They started in Alabama. it looks like they mostly went north and east from there (a little west, like into Texas), but not to the west coast. The Rapid City store seems to be an outlier.

I've been to a Books A Million store a couple times when I lived in the Dallas area. They also run a wholesale book supplier, American Wholesale Book Company. So they're not nobodies.

You're right about finding eBooks on their site. They make it very hard. And if you look at their eBook help page it looks like it was written about fifteen years ago. They still have a link to the Sony firmware update page — which tries to go the ebookstore.sony.com/downloads page. So eBooks don't seem to be a high priority for them.

https://www.booksamillion.com/help/ebook-faqs.html

eBooks.com, however, is pretty good. And I think they do sell books internationally.

[gforgiraffe39935]

Originally Posted by Julie Paradise

Yeah, sometimes when I read reviews about such and such e-ink reader device being unusable because of xy aspect (colour, dark screen, pixelated once one scrawls into the screen, too light, too heavy, uneven lighting, ...), I wonder how people read books before, without front light or dark mode ... *rolleyes*

This is a good point. However, due to my eyesight, there were paper books I just couldn't read at a certain point. If they didn't have large print or eBook available in the public library, I never read them.

I compared some of the newer (2010 to date) paperback historical fiction font faces and font sizes to some of the older paperbacks I still haven't sold. The font in adult fiction books today is so tiny compared to the regular and mass market paperbacks I have from the 1980s and 1990s.

I used to use my NOOK on and off, but in the last 5 years, my NOOK and other eReaders are the only way I will ever be able to read books anymore (comfortably). I have family who just stopped reading full stop because it's a hassle to read paper books comfortably without special reading glasses and a lot of light. (They don't listen to me when I sing the virtues of e-ink!)

With extreme joint pain in my hands and worsening vision, I probably would've just stopped reading paper books and moved solely to audiobooks if I didn't have an eReader option.