How to Survive the Next Wave of Technology Extinction

New York Times ^ | 02/13/2014 | Farhad Manjoo

[SeekAndFind]

Don’t mock the beleaguered Nook owner. That could have been you.

Five years ago, when the nation’s largest chain of bookstores released an e-reader that it promised would best Amazon’s Kindle, could you blame the poor souls who bought in to Barnes & Noble’s vision of the future? In 2011, Consumer Reports proclaimed the Nook the best e-reader in the land, saying it surpassed the Kindle in just about every way. Well, that sounds pretty definitive, doesn’t it? No wonder your aunt bought you one for Christmas.

Things haven’t played out well since. After failing to douse Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble has spent the last year refashioning its Nook strategy, and with its recent reductions in e-reader staff, the Nook’s end looks nigh. If you own a Nook, the fate of your books may now be up in the air. Sorry, you bet on the wrong horse.

The Nook’s fate isn’t unusual these days. Technologies have always gone belly up, but tech extinctions may become even more common over the next few years. We’re living through an exhilarating and mystifying time in the tech business, when every established brand and business model — from the Windows PC to the whole idea of selling software and hardware for a profit — is suddenly under assault.

Today, five behemoths — Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft — plus a dizzying array of start-ups are competing to win every dollar and minute you spend in tech. While each of these companies offers differing sets of technologies sold under widely varying business models, they all share a common feature — trying to hook you deeply into an ecosystem of interconnected technologies.

The trouble arises when you are sold on a tech ecosystem that doesn’t prosper.

[cableguymn]

so the answer is to buy an apple?

[SeekAndFind]

His answer is to bet on the companies that will THRIVE in the long term -— THE SURE WINNERS.

Here’s his game plan ( I’ll let you read the rest of the article for the details as to why ):

* BUY APPLE’S HARDWARE Apple’s phones, tablets and PCs are the best-designed and best-made computers on the market.

* USE GOOGLE’S SERVICES Your phone and tablet should carry Apple’s logo, but almost everything I do with them is routed through the search company’s servers.

* BUY MEDIA FROM AMAZON

* BET ON CONNECTORS In our multidevice world, Amazon’s media store functions as what I like to call a “connector” — it bridges the chasm between otherwise foreign technologies.

[proxy_user]

Buy a turntable and some records. It’s a proven technology that’s not going away.

[SeekAndFind]

Also, Notice the one company that is out of his picture -— MICROSOFT.

[SeekAndFind]

Also, Notice the one company that is out of his picture -— MICROSOFT.

[mountainlion]

so the answer is to buy an apple?

My 8080 still works.

[paudio]

I bought Nook HD+ for $179. I am so happy with it since it has access to Google Play, Kindle app, etc., with great screen.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Basically, buy a device which will make it easier for your activities to be monitored.

[Gadsden1st]

While reading this thread, my PC rebooted after loading some updates for something. My life is not my own.

[SeekAndFind]

Well, if Nook is such a great product, why is Barnes and Noble having this problem:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/barnes-noble-cuts-jobs-amid-plunging-nook-sales/

TITLE OF ARTICLES:

Amid plunging Nook sales, Barnes & Noble cuts jobs

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/11/business/media/layoffs-at-barnes-noble-nook-unit.html

Bookseller Cuts Jobs at Division for Nook

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/10/5397872/barnes-noble-reportedly-lays-off-nook-engineering-division

Barnes & Noble lays off Nook engineering staff

http://www.businessinsider.com/barnes-and-noble-hardware-engineering-staff-2014-2

Barnes & Noble Fired Its Nook Hardware Engineering Staff

[Mercat]

I have the Kindle app on my iPad and my iPhone. It synchs so I can read whatever I’m reading anywhere I go. It advances to wherever you last read. Great for books you read from cover to cover. Not as good for reference books. My beef with Kindle is that I have Amazon Prime but their free lending library will only work on the actual piece of hardware. I’ve actually considered buying an actual Kindle to access it.

[P.O.E.]

I’ve got a ton of books upstairs I already haven’t read. Not going to spend more money to not read more books.

[Kartographer]

Just place it on a shelf next to your Sony Betamax.

[ArtDodger]

It is like this time change nonsense. I never change my clock when everyone else does. Sure enough, they ALL come back around to my way of thinking...

[woodbutcher1963]

I am on my second Kindle. I had the original cheap one that was $79. The only issue I had with that was it was not back lit. The new one I use to read FR/surf the internet in bed at night or read books. I read more now than when I did not have one. It is so easy to buy a book. No going to the store, or ordering one from a secondary seller and waiting to receive it.

My wife has an IPAD, it almost never gets used anymore. She also has a desktop and my son has a laptop.

[Axenolith]

Ha, I’ll raise you the 1918 Corona 3 Typewriter I just got for $50. Now I just need to find, or re-ink, the ribbon.

Goes perfect with the 1910 Oak rolltop banker/managers desk.

[martin_fierro]

NYT: How to Survive the Next Wave of Technology Extinction

"Get a loan @ 18% from this guy to keep you afloat!"

[mountainlion]

Now I just need to find, or re-ink, the ribbon.

Some guys used to use WD40 to rejuvenate almost used up ribbons.

[Flycatcher]

It is like this time change nonsense. I never change my clock when everyone else does. Sure enough, they ALL come back around to my way of thinking...

Lol!

You need to move to Arizona. We never change our clocks because the world is always on OUR time...