Quote:
Originally Posted by darryl
I don't think it much matters whether they are MBA heavy or not. Amazon will act rationally on a cost/benefit basis. It needs to worry about anti-trust law, first in the strict sense and if that is okay then in an expanded sense of just how difficult an environment they will face from complaints, allegations, enquiries etc. Personally I can't see them lifting a hand to help B&N. B&N have nothing they want, not even their physical stores which are much too big for Amazon's model, unless Amazon perhaps want to combine them with Wholefoods, their experimental supermarkets etc., though I doubt it.
B&N might be a good investment for the large trade publishers, perhaps even as a joint venture. This would of course not endear them to independent bookstores. Also, given the bad decisions and lack of vision shown since Amazon came on the scene, there is absolutely no reason to believe they could run it successfully.
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Amazon has been heavily invested in government lobbying for quite some time. That is also part of the reason that Bezos bought the Washington Post. I suspect that they are vulnerable to an anti-trust suit, but depend on their government contacts to keep the threat at bay. They probably have less influence with the current administration than they had with the previous administration.
Like Nature, markets abhor a vacuum. If B&N goes belly up, then I'm sure that various actors will move into that space. It may be independent book stores in some places or a chain in other places. A lot of people still like browsing for physical books. B&N actually had a great thing going and totally blew it. I'm sure that at some point someone will study B&N and point to the various decision points that lead to their collapse. My personal guess is they over extended and lost the connection with their customer base, especially when they bought out Borders.
I have been trying to think of what would make me go to a physical book store again. Can't really think of anything, to tell the truth. I've already got alternates for everything I use to go to B&N for.