Meta note...<p>The HN title perfectly matches the articles title but the first line of the article actually says:<p>"Barnes & Noble laid off its Nook hardware engineers, according to a source that tipped Business Insider."<p>I only point this out because in North America, fired and laid off have two very different connotations.
This is a shame. Their Android tablets were misguided, and never likely to be competitive, but the e-ink readers were the only things really competitive with the e-ink Kindles.<p>I always thought if they had opened up the Android e-ink reader market more then they could have created a viable niche in reference applications, which are a surprisingly lucrative sector.
I work for Nook as a Rails developer in Palo Alto. I'm not authorized to speak on behalf of the company, blah blah blah, but I just wanted to post a quick comment saying that this news should NOT be interpreted as Nook going out of business. In fact, we're actively hiring devs here in Palo Alto and also in New York: <a href="http://www.nook.com/careers/locations" rel="nofollow">http://www.nook.com/careers/locations</a><p>I really wish I could provide details, but I'll just say that I would be extremely surprised if Nook wasn't around and doing well in five years. My coworkers and I really enjoy working here, and none of us worry about job security.
I really don't trust Amazon having a monopoly on any market especially one I care about as much as books. While they still have competition, things seem to be going in their favor. Even more so after the justice department handed them control over the market again when they complained about Apple. Amazon is taking the Walmart strategy: push your competitors out with unsustainable pricing and then take over the market and charge whatever you want when they're all gone.
My (unsubstantiated) impression was that books on the Nook would always cost more than for the Kindle. I think I automatically associate Amazon with online, progressive and cheap, and B&N with clunky, b&m, and profit-focused. That's why I never even considered buying a Nook.
At this point, they should focus on the e-ink readers, and just offer a ton of free books for them. Beat Amazon at their own game by not making any money on the books.
I bought a Nook Color in early 2011 during a trip to the States (I live in Canada). It was the first Android device on which I did any sort of mobile dev or hacking. My first experiences with custom roms, in fact, was on my Nook Color.<p>Unfortunately, the Nook lineup couldn't compete with what was rapidly emerging onto the market. It didn't take long for my Nook Color to start collecting dust once the Nexus 7 (still my tablet of choice, even though I own larger ones) became available.
I met a Nook engineer once, and she was convinced that the Nook was a better product than the Kindle. It's too bad that it never took off (as far as I can tell).
I love my Nook HD, it is a great Tablet, It has the google App Store and I can extend the storage. I think it is a great alternative to other tablets out there.
I always wondered why B&N didn't spin the nook hardware division off and focus on providing the content.<p>Either way this sucks. I own a nook simple touch and love it. Hope they still keep their apps for other devices around.
I wonder if they could still succeed going pure software route. Would the margins on the ebooks make sense? I.e. make bundling deals so nook is on every tablet non-amazon that is shipped by default?
>Update: After posting this, Barnes & Noble told us that it did not eliminate its entire hardware department, but it declined to provide specifics.