Barnes & Noble eBooks?
An unnamed “wireless industry insider” and an unnamed device maker make for a pretty flimsy rumor, but my recent love of reading books on my iPhone had me perk up my ears:
Barnes & Noble, the nation’s No. 1 bookstore chain, is working with a device maker and Sprint on a Kindle-like device, according to one wireless industry insider.
Ever since I downloaded the Amazon Kindle App for the iPhone [iTunes Link], I have been reading like crazy again. I have even been tempted to buy a Kindle just to get a bigger screen size, but the fact that my books are in my purse with me all the time makes the Kindle a lot less appealing.
The same is true for anything Barnes & Noble creates. I don’t want another gadget in my arsenal of toys that just reads books. Sorry, B&N, there is only ONE way you could attract me: make it work on my iPhone. Amazon was smart enough to do that and I’ve spent more money on books in the last month than I did all last year.
I wish Barnes & Noble luck, but riding on Amazon’s coattails isn’t really the best way to be an industry leader.
Photo via: XO 2.0 Laptop Concept, e-book mode | Xconomy