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Microsoft Invests $300 Million in Nook to Take on Amazon and Apple in E-Book Market
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I think Microsoft is on to a potentially good thing here.
What if Microsoft offers a version of Windows 8 that will run on the Nook? (IMHO, they'd be crazy to pass up that opportunity.) All of a sudden consumers have a compelling reason to choose the Nook over the Kinde. They'll be getting a tablet OS that actually has support, and an upgrade path behind it.
I don't agree with that sentiment. You're just creating an endless cycle of hate. A needless cycle of hate.
Besides that though, there's a lot of Apple users that bash on PC users. As a PC user I've had to sit there and listen to people berate me for using a Microsoft product when I could be using an Apple product. When I try to explain why Apple doesn't work for me, they just make up a list of excuses why it would, rather than accepting that I'm not them and my uses are different than there's. Wow. I just realized how that exact same thing happens to me with religion.
Why do we have to be smug about anything? Why can't we coexist? Where we live peacefully in a world where people use what's right for them without being judged by others?
Look, I direct this argument at PC users too, the ones that sit there and bash on Apple. You guys need to put your guns down and realize the other side has some cool toys too, and realize that other people have different needs and taste and it doesn't mean they're stupid for it.
The smug attitude has got to go because no man is without his sins, no company is without it's fault.
the market is saturated with ebook readers.. if they're tablets or dedicated eink devices.
throwing money at the nook now is like trying to improve no the pencil.
throwing money at the nook now is like trying to improve no the pencil.
This just tells me that Microsoft still has $300 million dollars to invest with. I cannot read past that. If I could, I would probably be doing pretty well myself.
Exactly. I enjoy apple products and the philosophies that go behind them. I dislike the closed minded people though that seem to associate themselves so heavily with Apple. You get that with Microsoft too though, although it doesn't seem as bad as it use to be as a lot of hardcore Microsoft people have realized, hey, they've got some fun toys over there too.
My sister is a hardcore Apple fan. You ask her to use a Microsoft product and she acts like you're trying to push her into a wood chipper. Being around her can be a rather annoying experience when she gets up on her Apple high horse.
But then you get these people who think they must go out and keep these Apple fanboys in check, but in reality make it that much worse. Or the anti-fanboy, fanboy
Good news
Firstly it's good to see that there is another alternative in the ebook market space giving competition to Amazon and Apple. I have both and generally buy from which ever is the cheapest for the particular book I want. Having yet another reader to choose from is hopefully going to make pricing more competitive and we all benefit.
As for MS not innovating, yes they have lost their way a little with regards to consumer products, but their Server OS's are fairly good. Windows 8 Server looks like a great product and MS is actually having a go at doing something with storage. Microsoft are changing and will soon be as cool as Oracle are (it not so already), but you would want to use them in your data centre.
Firstly it's good to see that there is another alternative in the ebook market space giving competition to Amazon and Apple. I have both and generally buy from which ever is the cheapest for the particular book I want. Having yet another reader to choose from is hopefully going to make pricing more competitive and we all benefit.
As for MS not innovating, yes they have lost their way a little with regards to consumer products, but their Server OS's are fairly good. Windows 8 Server looks like a great product and MS is actually having a go at doing something with storage. Microsoft are changing and will soon be as cool as Oracle are (it not so already), but you would want to use them in your data centre.
That was a really nice reference. It contains many that I didn't know.
I still don't feel like this has been covered with acceptable detail. The articles around it are way too fuzzy on details, but most people get bored quickly reading case filings.
Daaammnnn youuu.... that's the one I was going to mention
.You often see what you perceive as innovation from companies like Apple, but quite a lot of it comes from smaller companies. Apple invests in other companies and licensing all the time. They are prudent about it, but using the successful development of others does allow them to get products to market. Without that, they might miss the opportunity. Virtually every big company does this, including Apple. When you say "throwing money around" it implies that they're simply attracted by something new and shiny without much knowledge on the subject or plans on how to develop it. You don't have enough information to make that call.
please, there are tons of closed-minded microsoft fanboys too
i have to deal with them all the time
(and disliking apple because of some fanboys? very strange philosophy
I hear you. I have both Apple and Microsoft products. I am a Microsoft systems professional as my career. I don't get why people feel they need to be "devoted" to either. Sure, Microsoft systems is what I have a job in, but it is not like Microsoft has ever personally wrote me a check to pay my bills with. Apple has sure never done anything for me that I could not live without. I just enjoy both. The real enemy is Google
jkI love how years later idiots are still wondering why people buy dedicated e-readers like the Nook and the Kindle instead of just using the Kindle App on their iPad.
iPad = $500
Kindle = $80 or less (if found on ebay/craigslist), weighs about half of iPad
How is that answer not self explanatory by now?
iPad = $500
Kindle = $80 or less (if found on ebay/craigslist), weighs about half of iPad
How is that answer not self explanatory by now?
I see Microsoft as waiting to see how the market plays out and jumping in at the last minute. But usually by that time its too late.
GREAT IDEA.. but it still wont stop the ipad.. it will fill the small tablet void until apple brings out a smaller ipad
Purchased my first two e-books from Apple. Guess what: Both were cheaper than the print edition. Both were in DRM-free standard epub format. Both were purchased with gift cards that I bought with 20% rebate.
If you count the number of people using iPads to read books, that's actually quite a lot. It may not be as good on the beach as a kindle, but on the sofa it is superior. And I can read the books on my Mac if I want to.
I always scratch my head at people who post on Apple fan sites calling them delusional or fanbois or isheep or whatever. What do you expext on a fan site? I'm sure if you frequented an Android fansite the 'delusion' would be just as bad if not worse. Go to any tech site out there and the Apple hate is incredible. Probably 9:1 anti Apple.
People are entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.
Not a good business plan
Let's see, Microsoft got in bed with Nokia and will ultimately kill off that brand. The market share of Nokia/Microsoft phones is dwindling. Now Microsoft is getting ready to kill yet another product line in the Barnes and Noble Nook. To B&N credit is it will probably keep them afloat another couple months or maybe a year or so, but in the end, the lack of innovation will doom them both. How can a company the size of Microsoft, with all the resources they have at their disposal, be so far behind Apple and Amazon? If Balmer doesn't get fired for the mess he's made, MS is doomed. Windows 8 may be great, but it won't matter, they're falling behind more every day. What tablet manufacturer is going to buy the Windows 8 OS for their product when the Android OS is free? Oh, the Nook of course. Wait, their not buying Windows 8 for tablets, their using their own UI. So will the Nook adopt Windows 8 for tablets, or will Microsoft kill their own UI? Too much fun to watch. Why do these guys make 30 million a year?
Let's see, Microsoft got in bed with Nokia and will ultimately kill off that brand. The market share of Nokia/Microsoft phones is dwindling. Now Microsoft is getting ready to kill yet another product line in the Barnes and Noble Nook. To B&N credit is it will probably keep them afloat another couple months or maybe a year or so, but in the end, the lack of innovation will doom them both. How can a company the size of Microsoft, with all the resources they have at their disposal, be so far behind Apple and Amazon? If Balmer doesn't get fired for the mess he's made, MS is doomed. Windows 8 may be great, but it won't matter, they're falling behind more every day. What tablet manufacturer is going to buy the Windows 8 OS for their product when the Android OS is free? Oh, the Nook of course. Wait, their not buying Windows 8 for tablets, their using their own UI. So will the Nook adopt Windows 8 for tablets, or will Microsoft kill their own UI? Too much fun to watch. Why do these guys make 30 million a year?