At a Nook Developers Workshop in London today, Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) said it won’t be opening stores outside the U.S., but did not offer further details about the Nook’s expansion abroad even as it courted European app developers.
Barnes & Noble is reportedly partnering with UK bookstore chain Waterstones to sell the Nook, though the company hasn’t confirmed it.
Apps are Barnes & Noble’s fastest-growing content area and the company wants more of them — hence the developers workshop taking place today as part of a Mobile Monday London panel. I am following the news from the workshop via Twitter. Attendees appear (understandably) frustrated by the fact that Barnes & Noble is not answering questions about international expansion even as the company invites them to create apps for the platform.
Everyone waiting for one piece of info – when is it out here? #momolo #nook
— Charles Catton (@crgc) March 19, 2012
Drumroll please… They’re not available in the UK. Why. Are. You. Here? #momolo #nook
— Dean Johnson (@activrightbrain) March 19, 2012
We need to get some alcohol into these BN folks, this lack of information on UK availability is bullshit #momolo
— Andrew Rhomberg (@arhomberg) March 19, 2012
Also of interest:
My god. UK Nook developers have to endure a short 5 minute interview with the US tax authorities to submit an app. #momolo
— Tom Hume (@twhume) March 19, 2012
I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble to create apps specifically for a proprietary eReader like the Nook or Kindle. Â If I had an existing Android app that could be easily ported to these devices, sure, it might be worth the shenanigans enforced by BN or Amazon to get a bit more mileage out of my work, but beyond that, nothing. Â I’d go where the numbers are, and that’s either generic Android or iOS.
Besides, I feel that it’s just a matter of time before these proprietary eReaders go the way of the Dodo. Â Can you imagine if in order to listen/buy digital music that you had to buy a portable playback device from a particular retail record store chain? Â And you could only purchase the latest titles for this player device from the same vendor? Â That’s absurd, and yet that’s exactly what you do when you buy a Nook eReader.