"Step aside, Nook 3G. Your time is past," says Barnes & Noble.

UPDATE 26 January 2011...Or not. Another blog says Endgadget had it wrong. Drippler.com says "perhaps the 3G model is more popular than the WiFi-only model if there’s less stock for it." Who knows until Barnes & Noble says. Check out the post correcting Endgadget if you want. It's all speculation at this point.

ORIGINAL POST: Anybody who has been following the Nook forums on Barnes & Noble's website has read posts worrying that BN is going to discontinue the e-ink Nook now that the NookColor has been released and is selling like hotcakse. I'm guessing that most readers of this blog haven't been on the Nook forums, so it may not have been as much of a palm-to-the-face moment when/if you heard from Endgadget, and by now, about every other tech blog--that BN will in fact be discontinuing the Nook 3G. There is no mention of the wifi-only Nook, since--I'm guessing--sales of that model have been doing just fine. And of course it does not include the brand new Nook Color, the product that just might save BN from an early Wall Street grave. The Nook 3G was the first model of the Nook, and the $50 price difference between the 3G and the wifi-only Nooks sort of made which one to buy a no-brainer. The Endgadget article cites no sources so it's difficult to corroborate, but I'm sure the truth will out soon enough from BN themselves.

Here are some of my thoughts I originally posted to the Nook forum thread that had everyone worried before the news even broke. The Endgadget post wonders if "wifi really is everywhere these days" and that's why sales of the 3G haven't kept up. I don't know if that's it, or we just don't need the internet everywhere to use a Nook. The only upside to 3G is the ability to browse the Nook store and get new subscription content anywhere. I admit I've wished I had a 3G Nook instead of my wifi-only model when I travel far from home. My family lives a day's drive away and has no home wifi, so on extended visits I've missed the connectivity on my Nook, but I've also used it plenty without being constantly connected. In fact, I kind of like having a device that doesn't tempt me to always be online. I'm online too much already, and I don't need the Internet to read a book--just to buy one, and I buy more ebooks than I can read. If I had a NookColor I might miss the 3G even more since its being an almost-tablet just begs to be connected all the time, but I'm not looking to buy one of those anytime soon. I'm happy with my e-ink wifi Nook, that is, until Barnes & Noble discontinues that model too... But technology is always being phased out to make room for the newest machines, so I'm positive it will happen. I just hope it's not in the near future.

By the way, cnet.com has a good blog post discussing the end of the Nook 3G.