As I said earlier, it would have to be a rare case for me to buy a pBook. Not because I don't like them, but because I ran out of room for bookshelves on my walls...
I enjoy walking through a book store and seeing what's new...I usually grab a drink at their in-house drinkery, see what is new on the shelves (books, calenders, puzzles, games), say hi to the clerks, say "no thanks I'm just browsing" to anyone who asks if I need help, but mainly get an idea for what has been printed....I often get very tired of searching through the chaff that is the majority of amazon's online books (no offense to authors - but there is a tremendous amount of poorly written, poorly edited "books" available online that have received great reviews...) just to find a decent book to read. A published pBook has at least gone through the wickets and has a BETTER chance of being a decent read...
Occasionally I'll buy something that I saw while browsing - just not the books.
Here's the thing. The B&M bookstores I frequent rarely have an ebook option.... or, if they do, it is not a pleasant experience. (DRM, walled garden, must use our crappy hardware, etc)
If I were a B&M bookstore, I would provide a very pleasant experience for browsers....I'd WANT them to come into my store... I wouldn't need a ton of inventory, just enough to keep up with actual hard-copy sales... and I would make it incredibly easy for the individual to get an ebook of that pbook he just pawed through....scan this barcode, select your format, done... and if they needed to side load it onto their device, why look - here is a cable with every size and shape connection....
That is called being responsive to the market, and adapting to meet customer's needs.
If they did that...darn straight I would buy from them!
