Barnes & Noble retired its NookStudy
digital education platform and is replacing it with Yuzu. The new e-textbook app was
launched as a beta version in April for the iPad and the Internet Explorer or
Safari 6.1/7 web browsers.
Students will still be able to read digital
content and take notes with Yuzu, just as they could with the Nook Study app. The
app is also linked with the B&N FacultyEnlight website,
according to Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader.
FacultyEnlight allows instructors to search for content and assemble it into
coursepacks, and provides a place to sell original course materials through
Nook Press and the Nook Store.
B&N plans to have an Android app and
support more web browsers by the time Yuzu officially launches this summer.
However, Hoffelder is already on record as saying the future of digital
textbooks is in publishers selling directly to schools, so he doesn’t see a
bright future for Yuzu.
“Everything
I have read today suggests that Barnes & Noble is pursuing a retail
strategy where they sell (or rent) digital textbooks to students,” he wrote.
“Given the general failure of the digital textbook market, this does not bode
well for B&N.”
