A favorite pastime of mine (and you can tell by now, I'm quite the Jet-Setter, so, this pastime can be anything, anywhere and with anyone...) is going to Barnes & Noble (B&N).Today, it was with Theresa to shop for cheap used cars while we enjoyed free WiFi courtesy of the cafe...
You gotta love the B&N business model- let your customers loiter- and invariably, when they do buy something- they'll get banged- out in the store- regardless of price... I mean, if I need a gift, I go to B&N.
When I walked-in, they had a display with the new digital reader, the Nook. And let me say this- I was impressed with its quality- its look, its feel. Or its heir of both- I really don't know- I haven't tried it or played with it yet.
It looked like it was made and packaged by those masters at Apple- who, in my opinion make the best electronic baubles known to man. I mean, look at the success of the iPod and iPhone... And the Nook was white too...
But what really floored me- but it didn't surprise me- are the accessories for the Nook- again, very Apple-like. White and translucent plastic packaging. Soft, muted colors. Designer names. Did I mention it was white?
Now, I'll attest- if you really want to define cool and "go Jack Kerouac on everyone's ass" (a favorite movie quote of mine...Step Brothers.) nothing is cooler than a Moleskine notebook and a vintage fountain pen.
You do like you've done a thousand years before you and you write things, read things... On paper. Gee, what a concept. (For the record, as a professional writer- I've never written on paper and I can't write with a fountain pen, I'm a lefty...)
But the Nook, I'm finding, is finding it's nook- I like it better than the Kindle; it just seems more better put-together, if that sounds better?
Then again, to be honest, I haven't seen the newer Kindle- but... This Nook has accessories... The kind that drives consumers crazy.
Designer accessories.
Little slip covers, that turn your Nook into, like a book, with designer-inspired covers by the likes of Kate and Jack Spade... Or you can go the bubble gum crowd and swath it in bright colors to match your mood.
Again, I've attested before, I'm not gay- but... I know sales. I know merchandising and give a person an opportunity to stand-out- they'll go hog wild. Anything to be different.
Anything to spend money and differentiate.
Shit- some of these slips resemble the vintage, distressed jeans people buy for hundreds of dollars at the mall.
What's really cool- some of these covers even resemble Moleskine notebooks (the cool kind with those elastic bands to hold them together?- the very kind my friend Theresa uses...) do you think that was an accident?
I don't think it was. Everyone, even if they don't know it- is trying to throwback to the days of romance, classicism, literacy... Jack Kerouac.
Maybe I should start reading his stuff- I hear it's good... and it's supposed to be cool.
PS- You'd be surprised how illiterate I really am...
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