B&N Nukes App Side-Loading on NOOK Tablet

[wkc2001]

The terms of service addressthe device as "your Nook" not "their Nook". When I bought it the Nook could side-load. A month and a half later it no longer does this through no fault of mine. It was the direct result of a deliberate act on the part of B&N.

They took something from me and many other who bought these devices when the were first released and now are past our return period. Anyway they had no right to take away capability. Do the subscribe to the Joe Stalin approach to customer service?

I complained and they replied that they don't "recommend" that Nook owners load unapproved apps - no kidding - the outright prohibited it on "my Nook" after the fact. For that matter they violated their own EULA by changing the rules. The only thing that 1.4.1 does is to allow them to levereage the sale of a tablet to insure themselves exclusive access to the ebook and app market for use on said tablet. If Microsoft had done that we would probably see them being hauled into Federal court.

The sold/sell this device as a tablet and as such it is my opinion that this is a gross mirepresentation and is motivated more by money than "security".

 

[wkc2001]

When you buy a device such as a Nook Tablet you should have reasonable expectations that the product will perform as expected and as described. If B&N wanted to sell a "real slick Nook ebook reader" they should have called it a "real slick Nook ebook reader" .and not a "Nook Tablet".

Businesses today figure that consumers will accept anything they throw at them. We are all somewhat to blame for that attitude. It's easier to accept crappy products and crappy service than to demand true value for our purchases, not just what we are led to believe is value.

I come from a time when people like myself couldn't afford to move on from a $300 purchase and just go out and get something else. I also research these purchases and buy accordingly so you can see that I might get a little ticked off when B&N makes an arbitrary and capricious decision to remove capability from my Nook, not their Nook. That "upgrade" should had had full disclosure and it should have been "opt-in" - period.

 

[Guest]

Here's the thing...
The salesperson in my B&N store basically told me the thing was easy to root as a selling point. Since he couldn't answer my questions on whether some of my favorite Android apps would run on the tablet, he recommended buying it (generating a sale for himself of course) and taking advantage of the two-week return period.
SO ... I bought it and tested everything I wanted to do in the two week period, based on the functionality of 1.4.0, and determined I would keep it. THEN, a few weeks later, B&N sneaks out this update that basically changed the functionality I had tested withing my return window. THAT is what is unfair. It's like the Keurig coffeemaker people suddenly stopping the supply of the little cups you need to make the product useful. You can't hobble your product after you've released it and refuse to accept returns. Not without significant notice that something is going to be sunsetted.

 

[wkc2001]

lahugg, you can still take your NT back to B&N until the end of January. Luckilly, B&N has extended their holiday return policy - so you get to bring your Nook Tablet back and get a refund. All you need is your receipt. I returned mine on Saturday. I had purchased my NT on 11/17/2011. There was no problem. I solved my sideloading by buying a refurbed Nook Color and created a CyanogenMod 7 boot SD chip. It now works the way I wanted it to and I could not be happier. I did not need to root the device and it took just minutes. In fact the Nook Color works better with the CyanogenMod than the NT did when I could sideload apps. B&N doesn't seem to get it. We (people who want to mod their equipment) may represent only 3% to 4% of the bigger market, but in many ways we drive the market by word of mouth endorsement. Why would a company want to kill off free advertizing?

I hope you get your money back.