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Old 12-05-2010, 11:36 AM   #6
pwalker8
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Why do you think it wouldn't be? I base my supposition (i.e. the online buying experience could be just as satisfying as the in the bookstore experience) on some 30+ years of experience of going into bookstores and buying lots of books.

Define talking. In a way, we are talking now. If you mean face to face, well yea that's one of the trade offs. It's been my observation that most people don't really talk to other shoppers in a book store unless they are there specifically to talk.

Of course, what is satisfying is different for different people. For people who view shopping as a face to face, social experience, rather obviously the online experience will never be as satisfying. However, I suspect that those people are in a distinct minority among people who buy the majority of books.

In general, my satisfaction level goes up with the likelihood that I'm going to find multiple books that I want to read. That's one of the reasons that I look for books at B&N rather than the grocery store, which has a small selection of books. So I would look for a solution that maximizes my satisfaction level. One of the beauties of the market is that different people can create different solutions. I can imagine people creating web sites to focus on the social aspects of book buying, or even coming up with coffee shops/ebook stores where people can go - get coffee, socialize and buy e-books. Heck, maybe even carry a selection of various ebook readers and coffee table books. Doing so become a lot more feasible if you don't have to carry stock like the current brink and mortar book stores.
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