Barnes and Noble Creates 'World's Largest eBookstore,' Partners with Plastic Logic
The Amazon Kindle has been burning Barnes & Noble’s booky biscuits ever since it came out because of the obvious success Amazon is having with the Kindle Store. Not everyone is ready for ebooks, but the Kindle shows enough people are ready that Barnes & Noble can’t ignore the ebook industry any longer.
Today B&N announced they would be launching their own ebook store, which would be the exclusive provider of ebooks for the Plastic Logic ereader we’ve been hearing so much about.
Scared yet Kindle?
Amazon should be a little worried for two reasons. The first reason is the size of the Barnes & Noble ebook store. B&N promises their store will have more than 700,000 titles, which is absolutely astounding considering that Amazon’s Kindle Store currently has 325,000 after working on adding new titles for 2 years. Not all the credit can go to B&N, though. Back in April they acquired a large ebook distributor called Fictionwise that’s probably providing a hefty chuck of that 700k.
The second reason is the Plastic Logic ereader. Obviously no one has had their hands on it long enough to form a solid opinion, but initial impressions are all good. The device has a touchscreen interface, larger display and thinner form factor. All that might combine to create a real Kindle-killer.
Of course, in the end, the device will never be the reason people choose Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It will be the service that makes the difference. Another reason the device won’t matter: Both Amazon and B&N are both planning to offer their ebooks on other devices, like iPhones, BlackBerrys and computers. Right now with more titles, Barnes & Noble looks to have a fighting chance at stealing attention from Amazon.
For more tech news, see the blog home page or these related posts:
Amazon to Replace Cracked Kindle Screens for Free
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