Barnes & Noble, a 92 years bookstore brand, announced a deal to be the exclusive online bookstore for Plastic Logic’s e-book reading device, schedule to be ready in early 2010.
The device revealed at the recent All Things Digital conference is a super thin, touch screen operated Plastic Logic ebook reader and was reported by the media that it “has the potential to blow the Kindle out of the water,”
The announcement of the deal is actually an “extra” from their major announcement to launch their online bookstore on Monday which also includes a new e-book reading application for PCs and mobile devices.
Well, we are pretty sure that this move is not exactly like Amazon’s Kindle or Google, who revealed their plan to bite a piece of the E-books market. No, is not to “embrace the future”, but rather, a move in hope to revamp the shrinking market of physical store.
According to a report in Business Week, the number of physical stores operated by the company, along with those of Borders and Books-a-Million, shrank by 19% between 2002 and 2008. Barnes & Noble’s stock worth is already slashed in half during March 2006, and that is all before the recession.
This move to the ebook market may not seen as “all positive” to some as they doubt not only on Plastic Logic’s ability to deliver as scheduled, but also the Reader competitive advantage as compare to Amazon’s Kindle, especially when their books on their online bookstores now can be purchased and read on iPhone and iPod Touch devices, Blackberries, and on Mac and Windows computers.
What we do wish is that Barnes and Noble can have their share of success here. Even if such a move is inevitable in response to market reality, is still a pretty bold move for a near 100 years bookstore. And we must admit that the Plastic Logic ebook reader looks really cool.
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