Comments on: B&N Retaliates After Kindle Gets 4-Month Exclusive On DC Graphic Novels

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:34:33 +0000

Why would you possibly expect the Kindle Fire to have the same Netflix app that Ipads have; I know of no case where a non-Apple device can run an app designed for the Ipad. The Fire will get its own Netflix app, probably at at launch, since Netflix is one of the few companies that had the Fire AI before its release.

And I have no clue why you are comparing the Ipad to the Fire; they simply aren’t comparable devices. It’s like complaining about a Honda Accord because it doesn’t have the features a Porsche has.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:23:17 +0000

Why would Amazon become a monopoly? Do you really think B&N won’t have its own exclusives? And you didn’t answer my main point: why is it ok for B&N to have print exclusives on new books that are never made available to any other retailer and terrible for Amazon to have a 4-month exclusive (as a head start) on digital versions of backlist titles.

And why has B&N not done this for the hundreds of thousands of other books that Amazon has digital copies of that B&N can only stock hard copies of?

If these were new titles that B&N would never be able to sell, I’d see their point, despite their long history of doing such things. But for a 4 month delay of backlist titles? It’s absurd.

By: Guest

Guest — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:44:36 +0000

About Kindle Twinkle … I mean Fire:
- Kindle Fire doesn’t have microSD slot that, for example, Nook Color has thus it is stuck with 6 GB usable internal storage unlike Nook Color that can get up to 32 GB card in. Kindles are made to be almost like a “dumb terminal” of the past to make sure you’re tied up to Amazon’s storage on the web (for which you need Wi-Fi connection to get to) and you can only store content you get from Amazon there, not other files. Quoting Amazon on Kindle Fire: “Free cloud storage for all Amazon content”. Get it, Amazon content?
- The stats of how long the battery can last (Kindle Fire theory is 8 hours) are taken with Wi-Fi off. You can only imaging how much less Kindle Fire battery will last if you use it to access content from their Cloud storage over Wi-Fi.
- Amazon can spy on your web activity through their new cloud-integrated web browser of Kindle Fire.
- VERY IMPORTANT – lack of microSD slot means that if you decide to root your Kindle Fire, you’ll have to root the actual device thus there will be no coming back. On Nook Color, you can make it boot from a “rooted” microSD card and if you want to get back to the original Nook you can just take out the card and reboot.
- Kindle Fire doesn’t have a camera.
- Kindle Fire has about 70% less usable screen area than iPad 2.
- Kindle doesn’t support eBooks in ePub format that is the most used format in the world.
- Kindle app store contains only Amazon approved apps and it does not include (and will not include) Netflix app that iPad has and Nook Color is getting thus again you’re stuck with Amazon content only.
I’d recommend waiting for a couple of weeks as Nook Color 2 is rumored to be released by Barnes & Noble.

By: Guest

Guest — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 12:39:07 +0000

Publishers will think twice not to make similar mistake in the future. As Borders is liquidated, Barnes & Noble is The king maker in the physical books business.

By: crusoe

crusoe — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 06:21:45 +0000

Wrong. B&N is showing they DO care for their customers by standing up for them in the face of an agreement that was a betrayal by DC of not only B&N but also to those customers who had chosen to purchase something other than an Amazon product… a product that is not even out yet… a product we have not even been allowed to touch. This so-called “tantrum” is a warning that there is at least one entity that will not allow Amazon to become the monopoly it is trying to become without a fight. B&N gave those titles shelf space, promoted them, made their booksellers aware of them so they could promote them to customers and DC’s thanks was to back stab them with an exclusive agreement to a competitor. No, Greg, B&N did exactly what they should have done. It is DC who made an incredibly stupid move though I am sure Amazon convinced them that no one would ever have the guts to actually retaliate to such a betrayal. As for those exclusives you speak of, those are “in-house” imprints. B&N is not asking anyone to promote the titles, provide space for the titles, provide support for the titles and then pull a chunk of the market away and give it exclusively to a competitor. Apples and oranges, Greg. Apples and oranges.

Take care, be well, keep flying.

By: Greg

Greg — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 04:53:18 +0000

They are going to make them in other e-book formats, four months down the road; there’s mothing the least bit false about their statement. Or do you believe that DC should have to issue the hardvover and paperback versions of books at the same time in order ”to give….consumers the choice to read our stories in whichever format they prefer”?.

And B&N has never had any problem producing exclusives for themselves which they don’t let other bookstores carry ever. (I’ve worked on such books for them in the past)

B&N is throwing the equivalent of a 3-year old’s tantrum: “If you don’t let me play with all of your toys when I want to, I’m going to take my ball and go home.” And their way of throwing a hissy fit tells their customers that they don’t care about them at all; B&N’s need to throw a tantrum clearly outweighs their desire to carry books which customers want.

Both customers and investors should beware.

By: BV

BV — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 02:47:09 +0000

DC Comics says: “As one of the largest book publishers in North America, DC
Entertainment’s publishing strategy is to give our consumers the choice
to read our stories in whichever format they prefer”… but what IF, I am a customer and I prefer the comic in Nook ebook format or some other non kindle type ebook format.. is DC comics going to make it available? No, right.. Then stop making random PR statements which are FALSE.