Barnes & Noble dropping eBooks!

[KAMware]

Dear eBook Customer,

As of September 9, 2003, Barnes & Noble.com will no longer sell eBooks.

If you are a Microsoft Reader customer, you will be able to download your
eBooks for the next 90 days through your Microsoft Library.

If you are an Adobe eBook customer and have not yet downloaded your eBook,
please remember you have 90 days from your date of purchase to complete
the download via the email link you received.

After December 9, 2003, eBook titles that have not been downloaded to the
appropriate Readers will no longer be accessible.

If you have questions related to your past eBook purchases, please send
your inquiry to [email protected] .

As always, we appreciate your patronage, and we regret any inconvenience
this may cause you.

Sincerely,

Barnes & Noble.com

:|

[Vincent M Ferrari]

Must not have been enough demand to warrant keeping them...

[KAMware]

It is a shame this is happening. It is not good for the future of eBooks. I hope this is not just the beginning of a down turn!
:|

[dh]

I think that part of the problem is that ebooks are just not marketed very well.
I had my PPC for a while before I was even aware that it was good for reading. I'd always associated ebooks with those clunky dedicated reading devices.
I'm sure that if everyone in the industry were to get together and start to actually promote ebooks they would get to be a more viable type of product.

[KAMware]

I agree that marketing is poor for eBooks. It is almost a 'Chicken and Egg' type of problem. We need more people using PPCs to get the demand up on ebooks and we need more PPC users demanding eBooks.

Until there are enough PPC (PDA) users out there demanding eBooks I do not believe the big boys are going to buy into eBooks in a big way. I just hope the smaller ones like Peanut Press (Palm) and Fictionwise keep at it. It is by far the most useful thing I do with the PPC.

:)

[ChristopherTD]

It is by far the most useful thing I do with the PPC.

Agreed - of all the uses that I thought I would put my iPaq to, including games, email, PIM etc., ebooks have proved the most pervasive. I really like having all those titles tucked away in my pocket.

The PPC platform is excellent for ebooks, because while the screen is small, the heft factor means that you can hold it as comfortably as a book for long periods. I don't read ebooks on my Thinkpad even though the screen is superb - it is just too bulky.

[csterns]

This is unbelievable. You're all correct in saying eBooks are not marketed well. In fact I don't recall seeing any advertising for eBooks and what I have seen about eBooks has been in forums like this.

Question: how many handheld devices exist in the world? Out of those I wonder how many know about eBooks? I think once you tried it you're hooked. I mean come on, I have at least six books loaded on a 3 ounce device. Make the comparison. Ease of reading and carrying around. Maybe Amazon will pick up the torch. There's gotta be a way to get the message out. How about a petition to B & N?

[ChristopherTD]

Amazon do sell eBooks already. If Barnes & Noble drop out it is only signficant if it marks a trend and others follow suit. There are some excellent smaller outfits that specialise in eBooks, Fictionwise being a good example (I am a happy customer of them).

To be successful they need content, more books by established authors. There is an education job to satisfy publishers that it is a viable medium and that the copyright of the author is respected. I think the major obstacle is in the DRM area, finding a model that works for consumers and authors.

[Steven Cedrone]

Lets continue the discussion here... (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17822&highlight=)

Steven Cedrone
Community Moderator