Days of yore. (Photo: kodomut

Let's hope the various e-reader makers gathered their rosebuds while they could, because it seems the heyday of the e-reader is already passing. The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to one market researcher, e-reader shipments dropped 28 percent this year, to 19.9 million from 27.7 million in 2011.

On an anecdotal level, can you think of a single person who requested an e-reader as a holiday gift? Compare that to the number of people who got new phones or tablets.

The reasons for the e-reader's waning are pretty simple: Many people who already own them don't feel the need to upgrade, since what they've got works just fine. If you're going to buy something new, it's likely to be a tablet, which can do more (at ever-lower prices). The Journal says:

"For most consumers, a multi-use tablet is a better fit, particularly at the price points at which tablets can now be had," says Tom Mainelli, IDC's tablet research director. "E-readers will eventually become a niche product."

Now, don't confuse all this with the death of ebooks, which are doing just fine. The Journal says 23 percent more Americans reported reading ebooks in 2012. They're just reading them on tablets or smartphones.

But it you probably should take this as an ominous sign for the future of Barnes & Noble. The New York Times reports that holiday sales in the company's Nook unit (i.e. e-readers, tablets and digital content) dropped 12.6 percent compared to last year. Publishing consultant Mike Shatzkin told the Times, “They are not selling the devices, they are not selling books and traffic is down."

And so Jeff Bezos, ensconced in a mahogany-lined room somewhere, pauses from counting his ducats to move around the pieces on the giant board where he plots world domination.

B & N Nook spokesperson Danielle Steele.

They're those people: the human being who buys a tablet that isn't Apple's iPad. They're like Pepsi drinkers: Who are they? Why aren't they drinking Coca Cola? What makes them decide to take the road less traveled (and defined) than everyone else? WHAT IS THE APPEAL OF THIS SPECIFIC BRAND IDENTITY? Etc. Whoever the hell they are, Barnes & Noble has just thrown a huge bet down, and it's not just banking on that crowd, but the potential to win that crowd from the clutches of nu-publishing behemoth Amazon.com. How?

Well, for one thing, they're hoping these people really love terrible books and Glee.

Jeff Bercovici at Forbes reports on Barnes & Noble's latest offensive using their own e-reader product, the Nook, and how they plan on selling it on this odd contingent of semi-committed tablet buyers, like a political play for undecideds:

The pitch for Barnes & Noble’s new Nook tablet couldn’t be simpler: Thinking about buying Amazon‘s Kindle Fire? Buy our tablet instead. It’s lighter, faster and more powerful, and it comes with what amounts to free Wi-Fi and in-person tech support — all for just fifty bucks more.

Unfortunately, there are a few caveats to this:

• It's $50 more.
• It doesn't run a full Android OS.
• That free Wi-Fi is only accessible at specific hotspots.
• A Wi-Fi connection is required for optimal use of the Nook, which is designed "primarily for streaming."
• Third-party services play heavily into the Nook's use (Netflix, Hulu, Pandora), which creates a liability for users that B & N can't account for.

Asking yourself 'What's better about this thing again?' It's an entirely fair question. Per Bercovici:

Lynch argued that its advantage in memory alone — 16 gigabytes unexpanded, versus 8 gigabytes for the Fire, and a 2-to-1 advantage in RAM — makes up for the gap.

Also, they really think that whole Free Wi-Fi and in-house support is going to help. Problems? Sure:

• Any business who wants to put new feet (or simply more feet) on their property can mount free Wi-Fi. Which goes without mentioning all the cities and small municipalities who are now making wireless access free to everyone, which unequivocally undermines this selling point.
• When buyers are thinking about what they're about to buy, they're considering (A) whether or not it's what they want and (B) the hole it's going to put in their pocket. Here's what buyers aren't thinking about: the day the thing they're about to buy breaks. Also, Amazon's potential solutions for this are pretty easy: Buy storefronts or partner with a wireless provider for service kiosks. Or if they want to get really crafty and craven, simply certify Kindle Techs across America and support old-school IT support small businesses and when the local Amazon Kindle Fixer Guy only makes the problem worse, well (A) at least he's there! and (B) he doesn't work for Amazon, per se.
• Finally: More storage volume at cheaper prices sure didn't help the Zune. Remember the Zune? Nobody else does, either.

So how are they going to sell against these totally obvious points? Well, with democracy! Via NYT's Media Decoder:

“The Kindle Fire, and they do a lot of things well, is a vending machine for Amazon services,” Mr. Lynch said. “We’re going to partner with the world’s most popular music services. We’re going to let the consumers choose.”

A smart strategy, given that people will clearly never buy products—and especially Tablet devices—which basically acts as a monopoly machine forcing users into buying products from a single source. Failing that? BRING OUT THE PITCH-PEOPLE! Serious celebrity power up in this:

With the Nook Tablet hitting stores next week, Barnes & Noble is rolling out a marketing campaign with spots starring Jane Lynch, James Patterson and Danielle Steel. It’s the biggest such campaign the company has ever mounted, in support of a business that Lynch said would generate $1.8 billion in revenue this year.

If that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about what Barnes & Noble does and doesn't understand about the E-Reader buying demographic—besides the fact that they obviously like to spend more money for features they can generally get for free around the world—this will:

“This is a business that was a PowerPoint slide two years ago,” he said.

Yeah, maybe to Barnes & Noble. Clearly. If they keep up this talk, Barnes & Noble is going to a PowerPoint slide on how to send your business careening over a cliff that's in very, very plain sight.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek