Sad news. NAEB’s store is closing, at least for now. Here’s a note—in the Baen’s Bar forum—from Derek Benner, one of the leaders of the buyers club for Cybook shoppers:
"Nothing like negotiations is going on. We’re closed. (I guess we couldn’t keep it quiet much longer.) The last units of this shipment have shipped and we’re going out of business. We didn’t get near the price break we would have needed to stay in business. I would like to stay open and order Jinke V3 or Netronix EB-600 units, but the consensus is ‘no’. Of course, if you, the customers want us to stay open and sell the other devices, you should let us know – because we’d have to work something up. (And yes, having invested so much of my desire and energy into this, I’m perfectly willing to keep going even if the others aren’t.) But at this time, we’re going through the process of shutting down. Derek "
The TeleBlog connection: Yes, NAEB has been an advertiser, although, except for a Cybook for Robert Nagle, we haven’t formally charged it so far—being a big supporter of the buyer’s club concept.
Meanwhile, yes, I’m aware of the challenges that NAEB has faced. A Google ad for a Sony reader priced at $295 is appearing below this post at times. That said, the Cybook has certain glories of its own such as the ability to bold text to make it more readable. What’s more, for a little more than the Cybook’s normal price, the buyer’s club offered certain extra such as a memory card.
(Big thanks to TeleBlog regular Fred Kiesche for the news tip.)