For those who’ve considered abandoning their first-generation Kindle or bit of Sony ebook awkwardness, Barnes & Noble just sweetened the pot. The book and Nook seller is offering 30 free Nook books when you exchange your old ebook reader for a Nook.
B&N says the collection’s worth over $US300, although I suspect that’s the suggested retail price and not what you’d actually be able to find them for if you dug around a little. And the titles seem like a bit of a grab bag, so there’s a chance that something for everyone ends up meaning nothing anyone really wants. Still! Free stuff is free stuff, and if your Kobo’s been gathering dust, this is as good an upgrade incentive as you’re likely to see.
Barnes & Noble Invites Customers to See for Themselves Why
Critics Call NOOK™ Devices the Best Reading Devices on the Market
Customers Who Bring Their Old eReader to a Barnes & Noble Store to
Compare and Upgrade to NOOK Receive 30 Free NOOK Books™ Worth $US315
New York, New York – June 30, 2011 –Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, is inviting customers to experience what the critics and millions of customers are raving about: the company’s award-winning, bestselling line of NOOK reading devices. Beginning July 1, bring any eReader into a Barnes & Noble bookstore to compare and upgrade to a NOOK device and receive an instant NOOK Book collection — 30 free digital titles valued at $US315. The limited-time NOOK upgrade program is offered with purchase of any popular NOOK device including the All-New NOOK and NOOK colour Reader’s Tablet™.
Beginning Friday, while supplies last, customers will receive a free, 2GB microSD card loaded with 30 NOOK Books – from cooking and lifestyle to classics and reference –when they show a bookseller their old device and purchase the NOOK reader that best suits them. Book lovers of all ages will love the All-New NOOK, the Simple Touch Reader™, which dozens of leading reviewers have praised as the best dedicated reading device on the market. The easy-to-use, ultra-light, portable 6-inch eReader features a simple, immersive experience with a full-touchscreen and the most-advanced E Ink® Pearl display, the longest battery life in the industry with an incredible two months on a single charge and the most social reading experience ever with NOOK Friends™ – all for just $US139.
For customers who love to read everything in colour with the added convenience of key tablet features, NOOK colour Reader’s Tablet offers what critics have proclaimed the best value on the tablet market at just $US249. The award-winning device is sleek and portable, and features a stunning 7-inch colour touchscreen ideal for reading a wide variety of content including books (some enhanced with in-page video), immersive children’s picture books with the exclusive AliveTouch™ technology, an expansive collection of full-color, interactive magazines plus newspapers, and more. NOOK colour now delivers customers’ most-requested tablet features with a wide selection of high-quality NOOK Apps™ to play, learn, organize and explore, built-in email to stay connected, and an enhanced Web experience. Both NOOK devices connect via Wi-Fi® to Barnes & Noble’s expansive collection of more than two million digital books, periodicals and more, and offer customers access to even more free and exclusive content while visiting any of Barnes & Noble’s more than 700 bookstores.
“Both the All-New NOOK and NOOK colour Reader’s Tablet are best-in-class according to the industry’s leading reviewers and millions of devoted NOOK customers. We are confident that side-by-side comparisons with other eReaders will show NOOK products to be the superior choice,” said Jamie Iannone, President of Digital Products, Barnes & Noble. “We invite reading lovers to visit their neighbourhood Barnes & Noble bookstore to see, hold and touch our innovative NOOK products and encourage them to upgrade their reading experience while kicking off their collection with a limited-time bonus of 30 free NOOK Books.”
The 30 digital books represent a variety of genres including Cooking, Kids, Classics, Humor, Lifestyle, Fiction, Sports, History, True Crime and Reference. Some of the free titles include: The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, Cristina Ferrare’s Big Bowl of Love, Creating Your Best Life, Glory in the Fall: The Greatest Moments in World Series History, 21st Century Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me and timeless favourites including Secret Garden and Robinson Crusoe. Learn more about this program at www.nook.com/thebest.