reader.ly

In my excitement about the nook (other than the name), I somehow missed out on the news that Tuesday’s announcement was a soft launch. I stopped by Barnes & Noble this morning, figuring I’d get to check out the nook in person. I expected to see huge window banners announcing the arrival of the nook, but was surprised instead to see… nothing, except a large poster advertising Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid).

There was a smaller sign on one of the doors that said free WiFi was now available in the store. That’s good, I thought, they’re getting ready for nookmania (my term – call me, B&N). But inside, it looked like every other day at Barnes & Noble. No one greeted me with a “Would you like to try out the nook?” No 8-foot displays with brochures or promotional book marks featuring what should be Barnes & Noble’s biggest. launch. ever.

Hmmm, that’s odd, I thought. Perhaps the absence of hoopla was merely the result of understaffing. I saw the back of someone’s curly head behind the information desk, but there were three people waiting already. Finally I spotted a cashier before she disappeared behind a large reading glasses display. I sprinted over to her. “Can I see a nook?” I asked breathlessly. She shook her head. “It’s not available until November 20th. The best way to get a nook is to go to the web site, bn.com, and you can place a pre-order for it.”

“But when can I see it in the store?”

“You should just go to the web site and learn about it there.” This time she handed me a small nook-sized booklet from a 15-inch display next to the register.

“So you’re never going to have them in the store?”

“Not until November 20th.”

Tell me how this makes sense. Even if it’s not available to purchase until late November, why not let people look at the nook in the store, turn it over, ooh and ah, and conveniently place a pre-order for it on the spot? I left feeling a little dejected, and even rejected, by Barnes & Noble’s lack of excitement. Quite likely, there aren’t enough units out of production to put one or two into hundreds of stores nationwide. I would have settled for a video though, or reviewed a comparison chart, and understood if she had said to come back on November 10 or 15 to get a live demo. By not putting the nook into their customers’ hands even for a few minutes — letting them see for themselves how the eInk is so easy on the eyes and cool, it works like an iPhone on the bottom — Barnes & Noble is wasting their single biggest advantage over Amazon: their big, boxy and very tangible stores.

Update: I called the store a few days later and asked again about the nook availability in-store. The cashier who told me November 20 was mistaken, and the promised in-store date is November 30, as confirmed by recent official comments by Barnes & Noble.