The new and improvised nook uses new Android technology, a universal company, increasing the demand for the product because of the population that uses it. According to this article by CNN, the nook color creates a bridge between the Amazon Kindle and the Apple’s iPad at a reasonable price of $249. The new nook is now capable of handling apps, Flash, interactive books and generally most of the tasks modern tablets can. The Nook Color is now a very attractive proposition. The built-in e-mail reader lets you check several webmail accounts (such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and AOL) from one place. The BlackBerry PlayBook, a tablet selling at double the Nook Color's price, currently doesn't have this functionality. Because of the reasonable price of the new Nook, there will be excess demand for the product. The only problem is that the nook is not as well-known as brands such as apple or blackberry. The search cost will lead people to buy the nook, because o the convenience of it being sold in Barnes and Nobles and other book stores nearby. However, because of the lack of advertisement and popularity there will be people who are still willing to buy blackberry or apple.
This product is a really great buy for consumers and has great benefits for the economy as well. Not only will the nook create demand for the product itself but it has done a lot to stimulate the literature market. I know there are many people out there, like me, who have never read a book in their life until they got a nook and are now buying a new ebook every 2 weeks. I love using this product. One of the reasons i think it is so successful is because it brings a wide range of products together. The demand will be pretty high for this product because it appeals to both the tech junkie as well as the sophisticated scholar. Generally ebooks are cheaper than paperbacks or hardbacks so it is more appealing for the consumer and is much cheaper for the producer to make so it is a win-win. Because the nook color offers a color display it also has the power to serve as a ipad type product that can run apps which will also draw more attention to generate more revenue.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that Barnes and Nobel has come out with a product that is in such high demand and is capable of competing with others on the market. This will give consumers more choices of tablets that will suit their specific needs. One product that encompasses so many capabilities for such a low price is nothing short of a bargain. But it is a little concerning that Barnes and Nobel feels the need to stray away from their original idea of what the function of a Nook is. I thought it was supposed to be an eReader, just like Amazon's Kindle, but now their vision seems to be geared toward a tablet-like device. Maybe the demand for an eReader was not great enough and the idea to expand their product seemed more profitable.
ReplyDeleteThough the Nook may appear to be a better buy, than the iPad at $249. I personally would rather put forth the extra money to buy an iPad if I were in the market for a tablet. Though the Nook may seem to be a good substitute for the iPad based on this article, I doubt it has already built up a variety of apps as great as those on the iPad app store. Although this article may be correct about the Nook being a worthy competiter to the iPad in terms to e-books I doubt the Nook has the ability to play books, movies, and search the web as well as the iPod. As you could tell I personally find the iPad to be the superior product on the tablet market a this time, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a fan of the Nook, in fact I’m glad that company’s such as Barnes and Noble and RIM are creating competing tablet products, because this competition will force Apple to not stand-pat and will always make them look for ways to improve their products for the consumers, so in a way the competition is passing benefits on to us.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the Nook will have any effect on the price or the sales of the Apple iPad or the plethora of new Android tablets. Just as Andrew said, the Nook probably does not have the app-marketplace of the iPad. The apps are what make the iPad, or any tablet, entertaining and useful. Tablets are cool, but they’re only cool because of the apps, and if the Nook has a subpar collection of apps, the Nook becomes a little less desirable. The Nook seems as though it’s a great deal, its accessible, its cheap, its has a great logo, but its features are not on the level as the iPad: the screen, the App Store, the amount of memory, and its internet capabilities. I think that because the iPad has better features than the Nook, it will remain the tablet king. Its not worth speculating that after the Nook gets feedback and as Barnes and Noble pursues increased profits, that the Nook could reach the same quality of the iPad, and if the Nook still has a lower price than the iPad, then it could have a major impact on the sales of iPads.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the individuals above consumers have come to demand not only e-readers but also applications to go along with the books. Although the nook may attract a market of older individuals looking for a cheaper way to buy and read books, I would hardly call the nook a substitute for the iPad( substitution effect). If the nook hopes to survive and stay at a price in equilibrium they will have to compete with amazon’s large book market and the iPad which allows downloads from a variety of sources. As gas prices are rising however the income effect would state that individuals feel poorer and consequently may look for cheaper alternatives to the iPad such as the nook. Furthermore time will only tell, if the slightly cheaper nook will get consumers to buy more of the product. In my opinion however the advertising and brand name of apple will suppress any chance the nook has of entering the market place.
ReplyDeleteBlake A.