You can’t help but feel sorry for the Nook. It launched to so much fanfare back in October, was heralded as a Kindle Killer with its color screen, and almost instantly sold out for the holidays. Then in January along came iPad, and all talk of Nook ceased. Chatter about iPad competition is all Kindle. No mention of the poor Nook, though admittedly Kindle Killer is way more catchy than Nook Negater.
The iPad continues to gain speed. It just went on presale and apparently sold a gazillion units, and the number of ebook apps in the iTunes Store now outnumbers the game apps. Is there no stopping this iPad monster?
I was a little surprised when I went into my local Barnes & Noble to see a poster announcing that the Nook was “now available.” (It ships in three days for free from their website too.) I always thought one of the advantages of the Nook was that you could play with it before you bought it, but after this store visit that seems unlikely. There was a sad display with a television that looked like it was made in 1970 playing a video about how wonderful the Nook was, set at whisper quiet volume. No one was at the booth, and it all had an abandoned feel. Why would we want one of them Nook things when you can look at all them real books?! It’s no wonder that Barnes & Noble is already waving the white flag. They’ll soon launch an ereader app for the iPad.
So, it seems the days of the Nook are indeed numbered. And what is it with ebook readers and adult-themed names: Nook, iPad, Kindle. Come on guys, you can do better.
