back to article Barnes & Noble sheds Nook tablet albatross, will focus on ebooks

Barnes & Noble has announced that it is abandoning the color tablet business in an effort to stabilize its lossmaking Nook digital division. On Tuesday, the bookseller announced that the Nook unit's revenues were down 34.0 per cent in the fourth quarter, year on year, and down 16.8 per cent for all of fiscal 2013. In all, the …

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  1. smudge
    Linux

    And the Simple Touch?

    I picked up a couple of their basic readers - the Simple Touch - when they reduced them by 50 quid recently. Had never bothered with one before, but at £29 each, it's a good solution to the inconvenience of taking a dozen books with us when we go on holiday.

    It does what it says on the tin, and I quite like knowing that I'm not locked into Amazon.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: And the Simple Touch?

      RTFA

      "the company says it will continue to produce its line of E-Ink reading devices in-house – including the Nook Simple Touch and Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight"

      Of course the heavy discount might have impacted the figures for this period, but hopefully they'll reap the benefits in content sales in the future.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: And the Simple Touch?

        Best thing about the NST is that it roots easily, and runs the kindle app. Outdoor readable android, well worth the £30 and another £30 as a spare...

      2. smudge
        Coat

        Re: And the Simple Touch?

        RTFA

        Oops. Now you know why the Simple Touch is the one for me.

  2. Number6

    NST

    I'm another one who took the plunge when they dropped the Simple Touch to £30. I bought three, one for me, one for the wife and one to mess around with. Hers is in use a lot, so I guess I got something right. Mine is now full of Gutenberg sci-fi, and I'll eventually progress to modern paid-for content as I use it more. A shame about the tablets, but I guess we don't really need colour for reading books, and E-Ink is an ideal medium for plain text.

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: NST

      Advertisers like colour.

      Magazine publishing is all about ads.

      Magazine publishing is where the money is (what little there is left of it)

    2. Stevie

      Re: NST

      "Mine is now full of Gutenberg sci-fi,"

      I must say, that thermionic valve every author is banging on about as the Next Big Thing looks to be a very interesting device indeed if only half the predicted powers of the thing are realized.

      Now for a refreshing glass of Radium Tonic and I'm off for my daily soak in the X-Ray machine to strengthen my bones.

  3. Efros
    Pint

    Just ordered the HD+, I don't think they'll drop the price any further. If I'm wrong I'll buy another one. They really are very good android tablets especially for $149.

    1. Professor Clifton Shallot

      HD+

      Yeah, I bought one on the same basis and it's great - good screen, speedy enough for all the uses I put it to, has access to the Play store for the apps I have bought from there, supports user profiles (ish) so everyone in the household can use it - very happy with it.

      If they do have a real sell-off I might well get another.

  4. mlynx
    Gimp

    Too bad

    As usual, excellent hardware is being dropped because of poor marketing and stupid management moves. B&N really tried to lock the devices down and then heavily mark up the content. Why pay $.99 for an app that the rest of the world gets for free from the Play store? It was a non-starter.

    The thing is, it's some of the best hardware out there when it comes to tablets. The NC and Nook Tablet are some of the most durable, comfortable tablets out there. Add in some super cool hackability and you've got a fantastic device. I should know, I've bought over 10 of them for friends and family. Add a microSD card with an android OS and you're dual booting to a much friendlier environment and able to get all the free goods.

    My youngest has dropped her tablet numerous times, to the point where there's a 1cm chunk of the frame missing and it's still running. You can't do that with an iPad, Nexus or Fire.

  5. Matt Newton

    I have a nook

    It's one of the black and white ones - I dunno which model but it's really good.

  6. Alex Walsh
    Unhappy

    Shame

    Since the store was added, the HD and HD+ are great tablets :(

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Albert Ross?

    What've Albatrosses got to do with it? In the poem, wasn't it the killer of the albatross that was considered unlucky, the bird itself being considered lucky?

    Maybe you mean millstone. Or rhinestone. Or something...

    Paris, because surely this is the kind of question that keeps her awake at night?

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