[fpgeek]

IF B&N actually succeeds in pressuring Amazon to open up some Kindle exclusives, it clearly would be worth it to them. However, so far, with the DC exclusive, they haven't been able to do that.

On the other hand, their leverage is probably greater with ordinary books (as compared to comics). I presume they have a bigger slice of the book market and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that browsing-based sales are more important for books than comics.

I'd also say that the customer experience isn't as bad as it sounds. B&N will still special order the book for you and it will be sold at bn.com. With the exception of books by bestselling authors that B&N "should" have, I suspect most people aren't going to realize B&N has refused to stock the book. Instead, they're going to think that the particular B&N they're in doesn't happen to have a copy.