Borders' Triple-Secret Rollout of the Kobo

Very interesting. From The Digital Reader:

On July 3rd I reported that none of the five local Borders stores that I called knew a thing about the Kobo. ...

Well, Borders stores in Southern California have Kobos in stock. At least three of the stores that I visited have them.

But you’d never know it – unless you asked.

The Sony models are on the displays. But not a Kobo in sight. The small brochure is there for the Kobo. That’s it.

I feel like I am more excited about my Kobo than Borders’ retail stores.

“Oh, we have ‘em. They’re in the back!” – was the reply from all three stores. One store had a unit that was brought to me to play with. About 10% battery life showed (“yea, we’ve had it for five days and haven’t charged it yet.”) It was Firmware Version 1.0.

This isn’t the way I would roll out a new product. ...