A Bookstore drama

[pilotbob]

Rather than worry about who's buying ebooks... perhaps the publishers and the book stores should get together and find a way to get more people reading. That would help the bottom line more than anything else... for ebooks and pbooks.

BOb

[Rich_D]

I think bookstores are closing largely because people are reading less. Add to that a struggling economy with people cutting back on extras and an increase in on-line shopping.

Pbooks aren't going away, but brick and mortar stores are.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Well there are still some very obvious circumstances in which you don't want an expensive electronic device to read on, you want a disposable paper book (traveling, on the beach, staying in a place where you don't feel the device is safe).

Surely "travelling" is the classic case where the reader has huge benefits? No more angst about which 3 or 4 books to take away with you; with the reader, you can take as many as you want.

Travel was certainly one of the main scenarios that I bought my readers for.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Rich_D

I think bookstores are closing largely because people are reading less.

Or simply buying more online? Amazon in particular, in the UK at least, has had a massive impact on small independent booksellers. A friend of mine, who runs a small bookstore, tells me that Amazon typically sell books at a lower price than he can buy them wholesale for. He's survived by being a specialist in a particular subject area; it's the "general" bookseller who just can't compete with the likes of Amazon.

[SensualPoet]

Originally Posted by fugazied

Well there are still some very obvious circumstances in which you don't want an expensive electronic device to read on, you want a disposable paper book (traveling, on the beach, staying in a place where you don't feel the device is safe).

Let me +2 HarryT's surprise at Fugazied's conclusion that e-readers are NOT suitable for travel.

My husband and I travel to Mexico twice a year -- the Kindle has been an incredible benefit on the last two trips. I might be inclined to to take it just to improve the 5 hr flight experience.

The Kindle is not a "flashy" attraction, like an iPhone or a netbook; who would want to steal it? I don't suppose the back street black market for Kindle's loaded with .prc files is a hot item among thieves trying to make a quick buck. That leaves me less of a target.

It works just fine on the beach, btw.

And here's a benefit I wasn't anticipating: free worldwide wikipedia access over 3G. On our most recent trip, we took a 5 hr bus ride through the mountains to Guadalahara and, guess what? The 3G worked everywhere along the trip and I was able to read about the very small towns and local history as we travelled through. It also provided additional tourist info and history about the things to see at our destination. Now, I could have done some or all of that on a smartphone -- but the roaming charges alone on data could have been shocking. And wifi over a netbook doesn't work so well on a bus in the mountains ....

Finally the form factor: it's light, reasonably inconspicuous and neatly fits inside a typical room safe. Oh yah ... and the two week battery life. Honestly, I pack the Kindle first, the shaving kit second.

[cearbhallain]

No one has yet mentioned reference books. I have a few in my collection, and I cannot see how the current devices could help me access the particular bits better than a tab in a physical book made with a post-it. Sometimes you just need to grab that book, open to the tab, and then go straight to the back where the foot-notes are.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by cearbhallain

No one has yet mentioned reference books. I have a few in my collection, and I cannot see how the current devices could help me access the particular bits better than a tab in a physical book made with a post-it. Sometimes you just need to grab that book, open to the tab, and then go straight to the back where the foot-notes are.

None of the current mobile devices are good for reference books, and most of them are downright awful.

Ebook readers are good for linear text; they haven't evolved for dealing well with much else.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Surely "travelling" is the classic case where the reader has huge benefits? No more angst about which 3 or 4 books to take away with you; with the reader, you can take as many as you want.

Travel was certainly one of the main scenarios that I bought my readers for.

Agree. I have my jetBook with me in airports, airplaine and during my trips.
I had flight to HK and spent 23 hours in airports and airplaines so jetBook was very helpful..

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Or simply buying more online? Amazon in particular, in the UK at least, has had a massive impact on small independent booksellers.

The rant I usually hear is about Oxfam...

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by Kris777

Agree. I have my jetBook with me in airports, airplaine and during my trips.
I had flight to HK and spent 23 hours in airports and airplaines so jetBook was very helpful..

I remember a 15-hour flight from Auckland to Los Angeles where the only choices available on the in-flight 'entertainment' system were a Hilary Duff movie and a Spanish film about soccer. I spent most of the flight listening to old-time radio shows on my MP3 player and reading off my Palm m125. Granted, this was before the Kindle days and all I knew about was project Gutenberg, but even so, it was a welcome diversion at the time.

[Jaime_Astorga]

Bookstores and paper books will continue to exist, of course. Just as plays and LPs and broadcast radio still exist. Particularly in the niche markets mentioned above. But if anybody at B&N thinks that, in a decade or two, the physical book industry will be anywhere near as big as it is now, they are mental.

Another example is the large market for illustrated childrens books. You'd hardly want to give a small kid a fragile and potentially dangerous e-book in preference to a nice colourful pbook that can be thrown, chewed, scribbled on, ripped, etc and might well have pop-up panels and so on.

eBook readers will get cheaper. If the bastardized version of Moore's law holds, we should be looking at a halving of price (or a doubling of storage and display quality) roughly every 2 years. Considering that there are audiobook readers geared towards children now, I think it's only a matter of time before rugged and cheap eBook readers aimed at children make their appearance.

[luqmaninbmore]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I was referring to Laredo's loss of its B Daltons bookstore, which Barnes and Noble (having bought B Daltons) closed down in spite of the fact that the Laredo store was profitable. That closing left Laredo without a bookstore.

According to this website, Laredo still has a few bookstores left (it does mention the B and N's though).

Luqman

[Penforhire]

They've got their heads in the sand if they think they can go another decade or so with business-as-usual. Prices on e-readers will continue to drop. Child-resistant displays will be developed. This is going to happen on a relatively short timescale. Get on board this train or get run over.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by luqmaninbmore

According to this website, Laredo still has a few bookstores left (it does mention the B and N's though).

Luqman

I appreciate the link, but I think it may be a little out of date. Specifically it still has the B. Dalton's bookstore on it. I believe that is the one that Barnes and Noble closed.

If the two Christian bookstores it lists haven't closed in the interim then I grant you that Laredo still has two Christian bookstores. In my opinion, however, they would not make up for the loss of the regular bookstore, the one with nonreligous books in it.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by DawnFalcon

The rant I usually hear is about Oxfam...

I don't follow. What does an international charity have to do with the decline of brick-and-mortar bookstores due to people buying books online?