Again and again and again…companies who specialize in selling books and running retail outlets are likely going to fail at building devices. B&N will never be a successful hardware company in a World in which successful hardware companies have decided to enter the eReder market.
I dunno, Paul, they're not THAT ugly. If it gets people reading, then what the hell. I really liked the wallpaper-style covers that Dover was using for several years on their paperback classics. It made them easily recognizable on the bookshelf. I've noticed their change to more conventional trade paperback cover pics lately, and they're not as distinguishable. (Also their prices have risen, though still only half or less the cost of most trades.)