Barnes & Noble continues to decline - Nook to go?

[Jo Zebedee]

That sounds like the opening to one of your seminars. Well said!

You'd find it really useful (trainers have to learn that and another theory called the Honey-Mumford learning styles paradigm). It helps someone like yourself who has to reach out to people think about the different needs of people receiving the info and gives guidance on how best to support people with all the learning styles to access info

 

[Cathbad]

Heaven help us all when evything goes digital. IF lose access to all our knowlege due to a tech break down, It will be the dark ages all over again or worse.

We're about thirty years behind where we should be in going paperless.

"Real Books" are ones written by authors, no matter the medium in/on which you read them. I too prefer a paper book - but there are other serious considerations other than my ultimate pleasure.

 

[Parson]

You'd find it really useful (trainers have to learn that and another theory called the Honey-Mumford learning styles paradigm). It helps someone like yourself who has to reach out to people think about the different needs of people receiving the info and gives guidance on how best to support people with all the learning styles to access info

I know the first theory you referred to. My education included looking at how people learn. But I have never heard of the "Honey-Mumford" learning styles paradigm. I shall go and do some research. Thanks

Edit: Interesting. I am a Theorist, while my congregation is largely made up of people who would fall into the Pragmatist category. Therefore one of the most important parts for any sermon for me is the application. In order to engage much of my congregation I need to help them to see "What's in it for me? Why do I need to know this? Why do I need to act this way? etc." And I have to begin with a preview of why this subject is important.

Thanks again.

 

[DelActivisto]

The publishing industry is so confusing. Where do people think it stands right now?

 

[Vertigo]

Well there's no real point arguing it as, without a time machine, we can't hope to determine who's right since I believe it will happen but take several generations. I just don't believe it will be ethically or economically viable in the distant future.

Re going paperless: I already have done so almost completely; I run the finances for a half million pound turn over business and I keep nothing on paper. The only exception is our company's certificate of incorporation and VAT registration certificate. All paper invoices I receive get scanned and thrown away (recycled) and I periodically hassle those companies to get with it and send me electronic invoices. I literally keep no paper records at all. (I do keep multiple very thorough back ups though ).

 

[Brian G Turner]

Whoah - B&N could indeed be about to drop the Nook: It's Official - B&N Has Thrown in the Towel on the Nook | The Digital Reader

... and Kobo could be about to take over Nook: Preparing for the Inevitable Kobo-Nook Deal | The Digital Reader

I find some of the statements from B&N in the Publishers Weekly article quite astonishing:

bricks and mortar stores will be its focus

This in a digital world where online shopping continues to grow and high street retail continues to shrink??

"when e-book sales began exploding several years ago, B&N felt it had no choice but to enter the digital market"

In other words, it was and remained a half-hearted cash grab, when really they should have been forumlating a potential long-term strategy there and then. It's not as if we haven't seen years of hype about what would happen when ebooks finally appeared - how much more warning did B&N need that they were coming?

“There is no business model in technology” for B&N, Riggio acknowledged.

In other words, they are effectively going to roll over and die. But more quickly than if they'd made an effort to sustain digital.

Btw, this pretty much hands Amazon control of the ebook market, pure and simple. What incentive is there for self-published authors to go with other platforms when they are either in decline or treated as curiosities by their owners?

 

[Vertigo]

Well the only chance now, as I see it, is Kobo. If they're going to pick up the Barnes and Noble business then that will strengthen their position. Currently I buy ebooks from both Kobo and Amazon, but as I have a Sony reader I have to convert the Amazon books I buy which is a bit of a pain (incidentally that Sony is now 8 years old and still going strong), so my preference is Kobo, both morally (I've never had the sort of problems some have described with Kobo and really don't like Amazon's dominance and proprietary format) and for convenience, however I have to buy Amazon for self publishing authors who only put their books on Amazon and then, of course, I must convert them. I will also buy from Amazon when they are significantly cheaper than Kobo but that is becoming very rare now. Kobo do seem to have made an effort to take Amazon on at their own game and they are now mostly the same price and sometimes cheaper.