1. Buy once, read anywhere 3. It’s always about the software This is it. If a device is compelling, Amazon will make a Kindle app for it. If the device make

1. Buy once, read anywhere 3. It’s always about the software This is it. If a device is compelling, Amazon will make a Kindle app for it. If the device maker tries to keep off competing apps, especially from a major competitor like Amazon, the device will have a hard time becoming popular. (Even Apple had to welcome Kindle, a competitor, onto the iPad.) To me, Amazon feels like the good guys. They make an e-reader, but if I don't like their product, no problem! They'll help me read their books on a competing device. Awesome. They go out of their way to make their DRM a non-issue for me (Joe Consumer.) When I buy a book, I get to read it wherever and whenever I want. PC, iPhone, iPad, Android, they're on it. They're making money from me by doing what I want, and that's the way it's supposed to be. Barnes and Noble isn't doomed, though. They have their own advantages, and to exploit them, they need to play me-too and copy what Amazon is doing in software. They should combine Amazon's strategy of ubiquitous software with e-book stations in their stores where you can search for title or just scan the bar code from a book you found on the shelf, and voila, you're downloading the book to your reader. Browsing physical books before you buy is not dead. It's the best way to gauge the quality of a book before you buy, and it's the best way to choose between several similar books. Also, people just enjoy going to the bookstore. People looking to buy e-books are just as likely to go to the bookstore as people looking to buy physical books. If you can shop for either online, or shop for either in person, some people will prefer the latter. They will go to a bricks-and-mortar bookstore to buy an e-book.