Why Barnes & Noble was Amazoned
When I speak about innovation, one my favorite examples is how B&N was beaten in their primary market, selling books, by upstart Amazon.com.
Even now, B&N doesn’t quite get it.
Case in point: my book appeared on Amazon.com for pre-order over a week ago. It finally showed up on B&N, and there are few small errors. Nothing major, but it makes it look unprofessional: screwing up the formatting of the title, which is, I grant, minor.
Far more amusing is who they’ve listed as the author: Honore de Balzac.
This may come as a surprise to the folks at Barnes & Noble, but Honore has been dead for a while.
Okay, this isn’t a major issue, but it illustrates a point: when the primary image people have of your “bookstore” is virtual, it pays to get the relevant details right.
On the other hand, if you want to get a brand new book by Honore de Balzac, I guess now’s your chance… š
