Posted on 01/07/2012 6:22:34 AM PST by Kaslin
Retail sales are up but profits are down as noted in Profit Warnings at Target, Kohl’s, J. C. Penney, American Eagle
However, shrinking profits are one thing, huge losses another.
On Thursday, Barnes & Noble increased its projected loss per share for the current fiscal year to between $1.10 and $1.40, from the 30 cents to 70 cents it reaffirmed one month ago.
I have commented before that brick-and-mortar book stores are in serious trouble. It's time to move Barnes & Noble to the top of the list.
The Wall Street Journal reports Barnes & Noble Seeks Next Chapter
The nation's largest bookstore chain warned Thursday it would lose twice as much money this fiscal year as it previously expected, and said it is weighing splitting off its growing Nook digital-book business from its aging bookstores.
Ironically, Barnes & Noble had been one of the first to recognize the potential of digital books. In 1998, it invested in NuvoMedia Inc., maker of the Rocket eBook reader, and the bookseller actively supported digital-book sales. But in 2003, it exited the still-nascent business, saying there wasn't any profit in it.
It wasn't until 2009 that Barnes & Noble re-entered the business, introducing its Nook e-reader. By then, Amazon had been selling its Kindle device for about two years, and was offering best sellers for $9.99, a fraction of what hardcover best sellers are priced at.
Apple introduced its iPad tablet in January 2010. Amazon responded with its competing Kindle Fire tablet this past September, and in November, Barnes & Noble introduced its Nook Tablet.
To promote the Nook, the retailer returned to national TV advertising in 2010, after a 14-year hiatus, buying spots on popular programs such as "American Idol."
The heavy Nook investment has squeezed Barnes & Noble's bottom line.
Barnes & Noble said in a statement on Thursday it was "in discussions with strategic partners including publishers, retailers and technology companies in international markets." It said that could lead to expanding the Nook business overseas.
What's the "Next Chapter"?
The Journal reports Barnes & Noble is also considering a plan to spin off its Nook business. If it does, can it make a profit selling books the old-fashioned way? If it doesn't, does if have the resources to compete against Amazon and Apple?
Either way, the "Next Chapter" for Barnes & Noble just might be bankruptcy court. It took me a second to catch the play on words in the WSJ article because the first thought I had was "Chapter 7" and a word was missing.
Bear in mind, even if that happens, it can take years to play out. GM was terminally ill for a decade before it succumbed to the inevitable.
My wife and buy used books through Amazon. You can actually buy used or sometimes new books for a fraction of the cost of the new retailed book. I frequently pay more for the shipping than I do for the book itself. Buying used books in good condition saves a lot of money.
I own a nook. When you’re in the store, you can digitally read any book in the store but can’t leave without paying for it. I haven’t actually used it but the idea appeals to me—
Some of their locations really are prime spots in retail outlets - if you’re cold, or tired, or frazzled from a day at a mall, walking into a B & N is mostly a positive experience - if they’re smart they’ll leverage that asset which isn’t going to stick around forever if not exploited.
Agree - it’s definitely act now or lose it forever - if they wait they’ll go the way of the big music stores.
I live in a small community. We have a local power company that buys off the grid as well as provides Internet service. I don’t use their Internet service, but they’ve also provided free WiFi in areas such as downtown. For instance, our local Seniors Center is a spot that has it provided, as well as some of the restaurants.
In other, larger communities, there are restaurants, coffee shops, etc that provide free WiFi. I’m sure Starbucks or Caribou Coffee does in most locations. Also Pandera. Hotels also provide free access to their guests. I’m thinking of suggesting to our public country club to add free WiFi access to their lunch and dinner guests. We’re on the crossing of two Interstates and such an offering, if well advertised, could draw transient business.
Newer versions of Windows (Vista and 7) will ask you what kind of network it is (you would choose “Public” in this case so the OS knows to tighten up the security settings).
I don't see it asking "public" so where would that be?
I’m the exact same way with amazon prime. Free 2 day shipping for just about anything under the sun, with good prices and amazon’s reputation to stand behind if something were to not be as expected (it rarely is) all with “one-click” ordering - what’s not to like?
I guess what’s not to like is the $79 you pay to join prime - but if you order enough stuff you make that back and more.
Do you know whether it has to be a Nook, or can you do that with some other eReader that uses the same ePub format?
Barnes and Noble also contract manages many on campus college bookstores. Those are not doing well either. This has nothing to do with eTextbooks as the percentage of electronic textbooks sold has declined from about 5% of total textbook sales to under 3%. Peer to peer sales facilitated by Internet sites like Amazon Marketplace have cut deeply into in store textbook sales.
I feel some what the same. I like the heft of a book in my hands.
BUT
With the Kindle and similar devices I can now have that which I have desired since my teens, a one hundred thousand plus volume library. I almost wiggle with joy every time I think about it.
Years ago I read a book set in the future. It had people finding discs all over the place and they had no idea what they where. They finally figured out the discs where books but they had no way of reading them having lost the needed technology.
You’ll have to ask Mamzelle - I was quoting her post in my post :)
It’ll be a big window that pops up front-and-center when you attempt to connect to a wireless network. The options are (IIRC) “Public”, “Work”, and “Home”. There are short descriptions of each setting on the button so you have an idea of which you want to select.
It looks like they pulled it pretty quickly:
The fallout from the latest Wikileaks revelations is becoming extremely toxic and dangerous for Julian Assange, and the news that Amazon.com has taken down his site is a dramatic development that will hurt him badly.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/300935#ixzz1inJ27rnX
Yeah, it’s a real problem, but one not specific to Amazon.
Two Pro-Pedophile Books on B&N???
Options
11-12-2010 02:07 PM
In light of the “pedophile guide” scandal on Amazon I began telling people to shop B&N instead. Imagine my surprise when investigation by others turned up two pro-pedophile books on B&N. One, by Phillip Greaves 2nd who wrote the “pedophile guide” is easy to explain - it’s only when you look at chapter titles that you find the one promoting pedophilia. The other, however, is more disturbing. Written by a retired California dentist it is called: “The ‘Pedophile’ Sham”. The information page states: “Pedophilia is a word that has been misused,” says Joseph. “A pedophile is good, whereas the true culprit name ‘pedosexual’ has been uncovered. We do not call a homosexual a homophile. We should not call a pedosexual a pedophile.”
Obviously, B&N needs to screen their offerings more carefully as well. Hopefully these books will be romoved quickly.
Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly
Egads, college texts are out of this world expensive. You can’t buy them used anymore because they have to have a new cd to accompany them so you can submit your homework online. Back in the day, I was first to the college bookstore to snatch up the nastiest dog eared texts. They were the cheapest and had everything already highlighted and noted.
Anyway, hope that helps.
In your system tray is the icon for your wireless network (a series of vertical bars). Click on that, then select “Open Network and Sharing Center” that appears at the bottom.
In the window that opens, select “Change advanced sharing settings” that appears in the left panel.
In the next window, scroll down until you see “Public”, then left-click on the down arrow that appears to its right.
In the next window under “Network Discovery”, select “Turn on network discovery”. NOTE: Look at all the other options as well. You will likely want to turn off file/printer and public folder sharing, and turn on 128 bit encryption.
Thanks so much. I’ll go check it out.
So in that case, I would try connecting to “lsuguest” since “guest” networks tend to open to the public. They’re also completely unsecure, which is why the little warning icon is attached to the signal strength of the network.
E textbooks aren’t cheap either. They are normally the price of a used textbook and are just PDF copies viewed on a computer screen. Kindles and Nooks are not going to be the platform for E textbooks. IPads and other tablet apps may.
That was just a google search graphic so not mine but yes I see what you’re saying about “guest” and security. The video was informative - dummy me didn’t know to click on the accounts. Thanks again, now next time I’m going to be sitting somewhere for hours on end I can get onto FR!
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