Quote:
Originally Posted by djulian
Has this happened to you all too? Do you still spend hours hunting for books and cultivating your shelves? Or do you now just tap, "Add to Wishlist" and grab it when you have the funds and the time?
Is this even a bad change?
I don't know. I just don't feel like going to Barnes & Noble again, which makes me feel a bit like I've lost something important.
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What you are talking about is using bookstores as showrooms for books. Apparently that sort of thing is killing Best Buy, and contributed to the demise of the Big Brick Bookstores.
I'm fortunate enough to live in A Big City where there are 3 used bookstores within walking distance, and one indie bookstore, also within walking distance, as good as any I've seen in my travels around the country.
I tend to visit one of the used and the indie once a week, just to browse the stacks. My general policy is to buy from the bookstore unless they don't have what I'm looking for or if I find a book that I know I will be wanting in a smaller form factor for travel purposes, in which case I want an ebook version.
What ebooks give me is (1) a portable library in a small package and (2) access to out of copyright books which are not easily available in pbook form. I do some ebook reading at home, but much more pbook reading.
I hope that we are going to reach some kind of equilibrium that keeps the indie and used bookstores in existence. I usually don't miss the Big Stores like B&N and Borders, except for the ability to grab a stack of books and spend a few hours scanning through them while sitting at a table with a cup of coffee & a snack.
Bottom line is that I don't miss bookstore browsing because I still have it. And I don't tend to wishlist books I find in the bookstores, because I want the stores to continue to exist, and also because I still enjoy reading pbooks.