More on Borders...

Borders has always been one of my favorite book companies. So much so that I worked for them at one time, however I am becoming more and more concerned with the way that the company is trending into bankruptcy. Today I saw another article in yahoo news about borders, mainly this one, and I have to say, I have been seeing a lot of articles like this one all over the place. Almost every day, there is something new about how borders is failing as a company. That's not right. As a Brick and Mortar supporter, I recently spent over $300 in online orders from them because of their coupons. However, one of the things that makes it so hard for Borders appears to be their inability to keep up. Rather than creating a book reader all on their own, they have relied on Sony, Kobo, and Cruz as their dealers in teh new digital age of e-readers. Barns and Noble's Nook has done so fantastically that it is now almost on par with the Kindle, Amazon's one-two hit KO machine in the ePub world.

Now the only other thing that concerns me is the fact that because they have so much diversity, they assumed that they would be able to capture the market of people who did not want to get something so expensive as their competitor's models. B&N and Amazon dropped their prices drastically, leaving the bookseller in the dust.

To make matters worse, Barnes and Noble released an ap for the iPad which was a Nook app designed jsut for kids, thus widening the playing field for color eBooks with Apple. What has Borders done in terms of applications for various things? There is indeed a Borders App, which is power by Kobo, but that seems to be it and all that it is there for it. The application is free too, so that means that Borders does not neccisarily have anything on it's bottom line.

However, do not think that Borders is the only one in the lurch. Barnes and Noble is also in tehir own form of litigation. Currently, they are being sued for their Nook display by fellow eBook company Spring Design, who designed the fellow Alex eReader. They claimed that they shared the idea for teh dual screens with B&N, and that B&N stole the design from them and released their eReader early to compete with Amazon. The logistics of the case can be read here.

Needless to say, the state of Book stoday is in a strange and sorry mess. I am hoping that at some point in the near future, we will not have to close down our beloved Brick and Mortar stores in favor of Amazons large eStore. While eBooks are fun and easier to carry, I will shudder at teh day that real books are no longer able to be sold. This is one reader who still prefers to hold an actual bound copy in his hands.