Barnes & Noble is reinventing itself, however not its e-readers

My first e-reader wasn’t a Kindle, it was a Nook. It had a 6-inch 167 ppi E-Ink show and a tiny, horrible, however thrilling LED show beneath. There was a headphone jack, wi-fi, and a music participant constructed proper in. Popping out a yr earlier than the iPad, it felt electrical. It felt like Star Trek. It felt like the proper bridge gadget between my smartphone and my pc. However quickly Amazon turned its appreciable may, and talent to subsidize its book enterprise with all its different extra profitable companies, in opposition to Barnes & Noble, and because it raced Amazon to the most affordable e-reader Barnes & Noble misplaced no matter id its e-reader division was creating.

Now, years after Amazon gained and Barnes & Noble misplaced, the corporate is privately held and it has a brand new CEO, James Daunt. Daunt was introduced on in 2019 to assist save the corporate that had been devastated by excessive rents on its shops, a precipitous decline in gross sales, and the aforementioned retail large. Daunt’s imaginative and prescient for the indie bookstore killer approaches the ironic. The as soon as large of publishing is handing management of its shops to its managers, making an attempt to instill in every of its shops the unbiased spirit it used to quash. Wall Road Journal has a profile of the corporate out this week that’s an enchanting take a look at how Barnes & Noble is studying to compete with Amazon with out cannibalizing itself within the course of.

The Nook enterprise doesn’t come up within the profile, and thats most likely for the most effective. Once you’re making an attempt to rebrand your organization as indie and funky you’ll be able to’t present up with the Nook. Whereas most e-readers are slim, with small bezels and modern exteriors, the E-Ink a part of the Nook line up seems to be prefer it stumbled out of 2012. Taking a look at it I really feel the urge to ask the Glowlight 4 who the president is.

The Nook Glowlight 4 seems to be acquainted… Picture by Barnes & Noble

And I don’t suppose it’s speculated to be this manner. When Daunt launched the $149 Nook Glowlight 4 in 2021 he stated that the corporate was seeking to “reinvigorate Nook within the coming months and years.” Since than the corporate launched 4 ebook-reading units. There’s the 10-inch Android pill made by Lenovo, that…seems to be like each different $130 pill. However not less than it’s bought the Google Play Retailer on the house display so you’ll be able to select which e-reader app you employ.

Then there are the E-Ink readers. The flagship is the Nook Glowlight 4 which is a bit more costly than the Kindle and somewhat cheaper than the Kobo, and few options lighter than each. However it does have web page turning buttons! The $99 Nook Glowlight 4e has page-turning buttons too, however sacrifices much more than the Glowlight 4 to maintain its value low. Particularly the standard sort of sucks. We had a lot of points with responsiveness which might be probably the most irritating sin an e-reader can commit. If I press a button to show the web page…I would like the web page to show.

In September Barnes & Noble goes to attempt to flip issues round with the $199 GlowLight 4 Plus. It’s waterproof. It’s bought a headphone jack and Bluetooth. There may be 32GB of onboard storage and a front-lit E-Ink show with 300ppi decision and shade temperature management. It’s not that first era Nook from method again in 2009, but it surely feels extra thrilling than what Amazon is providing on the similar value.

The issue is, like the opposite Nook e-readers its sort of dorky, and in the event you’re already within the Kindle ecosystem—which lots of people are—there’s not an excellent compelling purpose to modify over past a want to chop the Amazon twine or since you love buttons.

You possibly can’t see it, however this factor has a headphone jack. Picture by Barnes & Noble

The Nook lineup contains a few different options that ought to theoretically be compelling, however at all times come up simply quick. For instance, you’ll be able to entry library books on the Nook, however protecting with the early 2010 theme of this lineup, you will have a USB cable and Adobe software program. In the meantime Overdrive can ship books to your Kindle instantly, and whereas it may be troublesome to arrange, Kobo has Overdrive inbuilt.

It’s unclear how Daunt’s present “reinvigoration” of the Nook model goes for the corporate financially, however from the skin I don’t see how it may be doing something however breaking even. Anti-Amazon prospects and Nook diehards who by no means switched can’t be that a lot of a market, and it additionally has to compete with Kobo to woo individuals against Amazon—which analysts estimate owns between 68 and 83-percent of the book marketshare within the U.S.

With that sort of dominance Barnes & Noble both must battle over the scraps with Kobo (which is owned by Rakuten—the huge Japanese on-line retailer) or differentiate itself. Lackluster design and bodily buttons aren’t gone be sufficient.

I’d like to see Amazon launch an Android E-Ink pill. These tablets are getting extra well-liked in non-American markets the place one two to corporations don’t have a digital monopoly on the e-reader house. You should buy one on Amazon or direct from the producer fairly simply. I’m personally enamored with Onyx Boox and its line up of Android E-Ink tablets.

The Leaf 2 begins at $199, has web page turning buttons, the Google Play Retailer, and a consumer expertise that wants enchancment. Picture by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

The issue is the software program expertise isn’t at all times excellent, and most Android functions aren’t constructed for E-Ink shows with their glacially gradual refresh charges. This results in lots of friction that doesn’t exist once you use a standard pill or telephone.

However Barnes & Noble has a beautiful app expertise. It may theoretically put off lots of that friction. Think about an e-reader that supported the Barnes & Noble retailer out of the field however allowed you to additionally entry your Kindle library, or simply take a look at a ebook from Libby, or scroll via your bookmarked articles in Pocket too.

Amazon won’t ever construct a Kindle with that flexibility—it ones you to remain proper within the Amazon ecosystem. Kobo is comparable. There’s a purpose downloading a library books isn’t as seamless as shopping for a reserving from the Kobo retailer. However Barnes & Noble is the bookseller that wishes to indicate off its unbiased spirit. It desires its brick and mortar shops to precise their individualism. So why not its e-readers too?