Amazon's First Bookstore Opens in Seattle - Page 2

murg · 11-04-2015, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fjtorres

To a large extent they have swapped expensive storefront floorspace for cheap fullfilment center and delivery van space.

Forget the delivery vans, Amazon could drone special orders to the store.

pdurrant · 11-04-2015, 04:32 AM

Amazon owns CreateSpace, the print-on-demand printing service. Suppose they decided to put an Espresso Book machine in the store linked to CreateSpace. They could stock trad. pub titles, but have all indie titles available in minutes via in-store print-on-demand.

HarryT · 11-04-2015, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Amazon owns CreateSpace, the print-on-demand printing service. Suppose they decided to put an Espresso Book machine in the store linked to CreateSpace. They could stock trad. pub titles, but have all indie titles available in minutes via in-store print-on-demand.

An aside, I know, but I saw one of those machines in action earlier this year at the New Library of Alexandria in Egypt, where they offer a "print on demand" book service. A very, very impressive piece of kit!

DuckieTigger · 11-04-2015, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

An aside, I know, but I saw one of those machines in action earlier this year at the New Library of Alexandria in Egypt, where they offer a "print on demand" book service. A very, very impressive piece of kit!

How long did it take for a book to finish?

HarryT · 11-04-2015, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

How long did it take for a book to finish?

I'm afraid I didn't see it go through the entire process, so I don't know, but our guide said "a few minutes".

DuckieTigger · 11-04-2015, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

I'm afraid I didn't see it go through the entire process, so I don't know, but our guide said "a few minutes".

Ah thank you. That does sound impressive. At my work the copy/printer only does 32-40 pages / min when in single sided mode. Did you notice by any chance if the POD machine prints both sides of the page simultanously (without having to flip the paper around)?

fjtorres · 11-04-2015, 06:38 AM

Espresso is a way to get books into a store fast without having to stock them.
Amazon has their fullfilment centers, some (many?) of which also house CreateSpace POD facilities. And they've been using the marketplace vans to move packages for same day delivery. Plus, they're Amazon. They have the books on hand or can get them there real fast.

So instead of "print while you wait" they can offer same day delivery, often before you get home. Maybe even free to the bookstore walk-ins.

They have this vast logistics network and all the backend infrastructure already in place that *if* this pilot operation succeeds they can go national within months. At the very least, everwhere they're doing same day delivery.

HarryT · 11-04-2015, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Ah thank you. That does sound impressive. At my work the copy/printer only does 32-40 pages / min when in single sided mode. Did you notice by any chance if the POD machine prints both sides of the page simultanously (without having to flip the paper around)?

Sorry, I didn't see it in that level of detail.

pdurrant · 11-04-2015, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Ah thank you. That does sound impressive. At my work the copy/printer only does 32-40 pages / min when in single sided mode. Did you notice by any chance if the POD machine prints both sides of the page simultanously (without having to flip the paper around)?

See http://www.ondemandbooks.com/ for details. Current versions apparently use the Xerox D95 Copier/Printer which is rated at 95ppm. That would print the pages for a novel in about three minutes.

kennyc · 11-04-2015, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I don't see the point. Forty years ago I shared a house with a bunch of guys in suburban DC. One of the guys was from New York.

Not too far away was a Brentano's bookstore. Brentano's was (and perhaps still is) a New York store, and my friend bought his books at the DC Brentano's, as if buying them at a Brentano's made them special!

That's just a New Yorker issue. There are many others.

tubemonkey · 11-04-2015, 07:58 AM

They have charging stations in there and a store opening promo for Prime ($10 off). They should've added a coffee shop.

DiapDealer · 11-04-2015, 08:00 AM

A place to buy books that people have shown an interest in buying? That's just ridiculous. Searching through piles of stuff you've no interest in (in order to find the one or two that you hope don't suck) is the proper--traditional--way to shop for physical books.

kennyc · 11-04-2015, 08:00 AM

They should have the ol' "Read any book for free on our wifi" -- didn't B&N do something like that?

MikeB1972 · 11-04-2015, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

A place to buy books that people have shown an interest in buying? That's just ridiculous. Searching through piles of stuff you've no interest in (in order to find the one or two that you hope don't suck) is the proper--traditional--way to shop for physical books.

Yep, that's the offline equivalent of "You may also like" and "Other people purchased"

kennyc · 11-04-2015, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

A place to buy books that people have shown an interest in buying? That's just ridiculous. Searching through piles of stuff you've no interest in (in order to find the one or two that you hope don't suck) is the proper--traditional--way to shop for physical books.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0ec0a3895150e

11-04-2015, 06:38 AM	#22
fjtorres Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,732 Karma: 128354696 Join Date: May 2009 Location: 26 kly from Sgr A* Device: T100TA,PW2,PRS-T1,KT,FireHD 8.9,K2, PB360,BeBook One,Axim51v,TC1000	Espresso is a way to get books into a store fast without having to stock them. Amazon has their fullfilment centers, some (many?) of which also house CreateSpace POD facilities. And they've been using the marketplace vans to move packages for same day delivery. Plus, they're Amazon. They have the books on hand or can get them there real fast. So instead of "print while you wait" they can offer same day delivery, often before you get home. Maybe even free to the bookstore walk-ins. They have this vast logistics network and all the backend infrastructure already in place that if this pilot operation succeeds they can go national within months. At the very least, everwhere they're doing same day delivery. Last edited by fjtorres; 11-04-2015 at 06:42 AM.

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11-04-2015, 04:32 AM	#17
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 73,707 Karma: 315126578 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	Amazon owns CreateSpace, the print-on-demand printing service. Suppose they decided to put an Espresso Book machine in the store linked to CreateSpace. They could stock trad. pub titles, but have all indie titles available in minutes via in-store print-on-demand.

11-04-2015, 07:58 AM	#26
tubemonkey monkey on the fringe Posts: 45,746 Karma: 158575914 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Seattle Metro Device: Moto E6, Echo Show	They have charging stations in there and a store opening promo for Prime ($10 off). They should've added a coffee shop.

11-04-2015, 08:00 AM	#27
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,390 Karma: 203720150 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	A place to buy books that people have shown an interest in buying? That's just ridiculous. Searching through piles of stuff you've no interest in (in order to find the one or two that you hope don't suck) is the proper--traditional--way to shop for physical books.

11-04-2015, 08:00 AM	#28
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,891 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	They should have the ol' "Read any book for free on our wifi" -- didn't B&N do something like that?