3 ms·

My (unsubstantiated) impression was that books on the Nook would always cost more than for the Kindle. I think I automatically associate Amazon with online, pro

by mkaziz 13y ago

My (unsubstantiated) impression was that books on the Nook would always cost more than for the Kindle. I think I automatically associate Amazon with online, progressive and cheap, and B&N with clunky, b&m, and profit-focused. That's why I never even considered buying a Nook.

ForHackernews 13y ago
The e-ink Nook readers are really nice. They're compatible with more formats than Kindle, and they can be rooted to do fun/interesting things.
rcthompson 13y ago
In what sense is Amazon less profit-focused than B&N?
- doughj3 13y ago
  In the sense that Amazon doesn't make [much] profit: http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearly-20-years-business-it-still-doesnt-make-money-investors-dont-seem-care-1513368 http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearly-20-years-business-it-st...
- lmkg 13y ago
  Amazon is focused on growth and market control. It is willing to take a smaller (short-term) profit in order to achieve those goals.
  - bpicolo 13y ago
    It's still profit focused, just for later.
TheCowboy 13y ago
My experience has been that prices are typically the same for ebooks on both platforms. But I get more flexibility from what devices I can read my books on via B&N, while I have to jump through hoops to get a Kindle book working in a non-Amazon reader. A few years ago I started working on an ebook price comparison site when I first bought my Nook, but I quit once I noticed there was very little price differentiation to make the effort worth it. My understanding was that ebook prices were being set by the publisher's. I think now overall there are more instances of price differentiation, but usually B&N still matches Amazon.
- mkaziz 13y ago
  Do they also match in terms of variety? If the average consumer thinks first of Amazon, and then of B&N, so will the average producer. But then again, I am a millenial, so I wonder if this is an age thing, and older users might not prefer B&N.
  - TheCowboy 13y ago
    When speaking in terms of "the average producer", are you talking about authors specifically, or publishers? My guess would be that the average age of published and active writers skews higher than 20s, and maybe even above the 30s. So it would put most writers in line with publishers who are used to dealing with B&N as a distributor. I haven't noticed a difference in variety. I can't really recall a situation where there was something available on Amazon that was not also available on B&N. The exception could be for self-published authors who have foregone options to make their books available elsewhere. (I just looked up one self-published author I know of and it was available for the same price on B&N.) It might be an age thing where younger people, who are more likely to self-publish, coming up will probably not strongly associate B&N with books. Borders(RIP) and B&N are older national chains. But my own bias pushed me toward getting a Nook. I have a slight distrust for Amazon's platform being less open, and Amazon becoming too powerful because they're so good at what they do. I think consumers , writers, publishers, and even the economy are better off if there is more competition. (Not that Nook is overwhelmingly superior when it comes to being open since I ended up rooting mine.)

by mkaziz 13y ago

ForHackernews 13y ago

The e-ink Nook readers are really nice. They're compatible with more formats than Kindle, and they can be rooted to do fun/interesting things.

rcthompson 13y ago

In what sense is Amazon less profit-focused than B&N?

doughj3 13y ago
In the sense that Amazon doesn't make [much] profit: http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearly-20-years-business-it-still-doesnt-make-money-investors-dont-seem-care-1513368 http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearly-20-years-business-it-st...
lmkg 13y ago
Amazon is focused on growth and market control. It is willing to take a smaller (short-term) profit in order to achieve those goals.
- bpicolo 13y ago
  It's still profit focused, just for later.

TheCowboy 13y ago

My experience has been that prices are typically the same for ebooks on both platforms. But I get more flexibility from what devices I can read my books on via B&N, while I have to jump through hoops to get a Kindle book working in a non-Amazon reader. A few years ago I started working on an ebook price comparison site when I first bought my Nook, but I quit once I noticed there was very little price differentiation to make the effort worth it. My understanding was that ebook prices were being set by the publisher's. I think now overall there are more instances of price differentiation, but usually B&N still matches Amazon.

mkaziz 13y ago
Do they also match in terms of variety? If the average consumer thinks first of Amazon, and then of B&N, so will the average producer. But then again, I am a millenial, so I wonder if this is an age thing, and older users might not prefer B&N.
- TheCowboy 13y ago
  When speaking in terms of "the average producer", are you talking about authors specifically, or publishers? My guess would be that the average age of published and active writers skews higher than 20s, and maybe even above the 30s. So it would put most writers in line with publishers who are used to dealing with B&N as a distributor. I haven't noticed a difference in variety. I can't really recall a situation where there was something available on Amazon that was not also available on B&N. The exception could be for self-published authors who have foregone options to make their books available elsewhere. (I just looked up one self-published author I know of and it was available for the same price on B&N.) It might be an age thing where younger people, who are more likely to self-publish, coming up will probably not strongly associate B&N with books. Borders(RIP) and B&N are older national chains. But my own bias pushed me toward getting a Nook. I have a slight distrust for Amazon's platform being less open, and Amazon becoming too powerful because they're so good at what they do. I think consumers , writers, publishers, and even the economy are better off if there is more competition. (Not that Nook is overwhelmingly superior when it comes to being open since I ended up rooting mine.)