E-books in physical bookstores, even without internet - Page 2

Mr. Goodbar · 12-23-2009, 06:40 PM

Personally I love the concept that the video represents. I like perusing bookstores and find myself still doing that and then checking online whether it's available in an ebook format. I buy very few pbooks anymore, but still like the social aspect of the neighborhood bookstore, although they are definitely a dying bread in the U.S.

When traveling internationally I always find myself spending time in the local bookstores and would agree that there are definite cultural differences at work between the U.S. and many other countries, particularly in Europe.

omk3 · 12-23-2009, 06:48 PM

In my local waterstones, there's a computer for the customers to use, with the waterstones site preloaded. What I usually do is, I browse the bookstore in my usual leisurely way, find some books I might be interested in, and then check them on this public computer, to see if they are available as ebooks, because, as many of you, I don't want to buy any more paper books if I can avoid it. If they are not, I buy them on the spot. Otherwise, I wait till I get home.

You see, I too love the atmosphere of bookshops. And it is strange that even if I was anxious to change my reading habits to incorporate the new technology, my browsing habits are a bit behind. Online bookstores are fine if I know what I'm looking for, but for idle browsing and discovering, nothing beats the shelves of physical bookstores for me. Noting down titles, then checking them on the internet, then coming back to buy them in store because they're not available as ebooks is just too tiresome. I would LOVE to be able to buy an ebook right there and then, and would not mind the wait for an email at all (though kiosks are even better of course.)

I'm assuming this all doesn't mean that these ebooks are not available through online stores. Just that you have the alternative to buy them from a physical store. I'd definitely love that. In fact, I miss it. I find myself going into bookstores and coming out empty handed (because I DON'T want more paper books, thank you) and feeling strange.

I definitely welcome this move.

tech_au · 12-23-2009, 07:01 PM

This sounds like the exact same dumb idea the Aussie book chains were planning to use next year.
The best way I thought might work was the idea that Programming text books used and that was a CD attached to the back cover containing the source code that was printed in the book. If an ebook version was attached to the physical book that might encourage people to go into the bookstore rather than purchase online.

Greg Anos · 12-23-2009, 07:30 PM

Just a counterpoint. Before you write off the brick and mortar bookstore, look how much money Starbucks has made selling a cup of coffee to people who didn't need to go there for coffee....

6charlong · 12-23-2009, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Just a counterpoint. Before you write off the brick and mortar bookstore, look how much money Starbucks has made selling a cup of coffee to people who didn't need to go there for coffee....

You've put your finger on the fly in the ointment. I see people reading in these coffee shops all the time. If they build these kiosks what's to stop Starbucks et al from putting in a bookshelf with about 100 first chapters and a link to purchase and download a book when you find one you like. This would create a lot of competition for local bookstores.

Kali Yuga · 12-23-2009, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fugazied

imo it's the only way for physical bookstores to survive.... you go in, meet friends there, grab a coffee read a chapter of a book then buy the ebook. It needs to offer more value than physical bookstores currently offer.

Unfortunately, I don't see how that's going to work.

Let's assume book sales is a zero-sum game; the more books sold online (paper or ebook), the less in stores. As more sales go online, more physical stores will end up closing (a process already underway, despite B&N becoming the 2nd largest coffee house in the US). The in-store digital sales would need to capture a very high percentage of digital sales in order to counteract this process, and the fundamentals indicate this is highly unlikely to happen. As much as you enjoy a physical bookstore, how often are you really going to wait days or weeks to go to the store (which can take quite a bit of your time), when you can read a sample, purchase the book, and download it directly to your ebook reader and smartphone immediately and for free? Realistically, what percentage of ebook owners will do this, and what percent of the time?

Not to mention that a typical small bookstore may only have 20,000 - 40,000 titles. An ebook store that launches today with only 40k titles would be a joke. Granted this is far more than anyone could truly browse in one session, you still end up with a wider selection from just about every major ebook retailer.

I don't see how a clunky delivery system is going to offer anywhere near enough of an incentive for people to continue to purchase most of their books in a physical store.

bminata · 12-23-2009, 09:11 PM

Couldn't agree more. If you have to connect to the internet to download it then why not buy it on the internet at the first place and free yourself of all the trouble of going to a bookstore?

Unless you're buying an ebook as a gift..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penforhire

They're completely missing the right way to do this. They should have a download kiosk in the store, either connecting to the website or transferring the book from its own local hard drive.

I go to brick and mortar stores for instant take-it-home gratification or need. This does zero for me. It takes an extra 60 seconds or so to place the buy order on a PC from an on-line vendor you already use (e.g. Amazon) if you already have to be hooked up for a download.

I don't get the appeal of this transaction aside from gift giving and people who are uber-paranoid about their credit card info on the web (pay cash at store).

pilotbob · 12-23-2009, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Just a counterpoint. Before you write off the brick and mortar bookstore, look how much money Starbucks has made selling a cup of coffee to people who didn't need to go there for coffee....

Yes, but you have to go there to get the physical product. I don't think that's the same thing. You can say the same thing about bottled water... people buy what comes out of the tap in a bottle... I'm not sure why.

But, look at physical DVD rental places. They are dropping like flies. It is due to Netflix and digital on-demand movie rentals and sales.

If people can get the SAME product without going to a store they will. Look at digital banking... I bank online. I pretty much never go to the bank anymore... there is no need. If the bank put a kiosk that allowed me to access my account over there web interface... would I go to the bank to do that. No....

I think ebooks sustaining a physical store is a pipe dream. If the p-books aren't sustaining the store it will go out of business.

BOb

alecE · 12-23-2009, 10:09 PM

I like the idea, provided that anything that I want to physically browse clearly indicates if it is available electronically. Most of my ebook purchases are non-fiction and I find it tiresome and limiting to read a web site summary of a title instead of doing my own assessment. Plus I very seldom buy an ebook and start reading it immediately, so a delay between purchase and delivery would be acceptable to me.
And I've never yet found a web site that gives me the same pleasure as browsing the physical shelves and making chance discoveries.

Jack Tingle · 12-23-2009, 10:17 PM

Screw all of this. I want the little orange folder number the chick had. Where can I buy one of thoes?

Regards,
Jack Tingle

Blue Tyson · 12-23-2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Just a counterpoint. Before you write off the brick and mortar bookstore, look how much money Starbucks has made selling a cup of coffee to people who didn't need to go there for coffee....

Starbucks failed here...

nabrum · 12-24-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

certainly this is not a solution that will appeal to everyone. and i see no reason why it should have to ...

zelda you are absolutely correct. People in the US (and I'm one of them) have to get over the idea that it's just like us everywhere. Your note on European small bookstores being the "center" of a small town, which may or may not have wifi, is right on.

To some of the naysayers, visit another country, especially go outside the big cities, and it's like your in another world. Heck, even in the bigger cities, the "living experiences" are way different than what is found in the US.

I think these bookstores in France will set a trend, and it will catch on, even in the US. I wouldn't mind going down to a local bookstore, browsing, finding an interesting book, maybe being able to read a chapter or a longer synopsis than found on the dust jacket, and then "somehow" getting it on my eReader after paying the bookstore owner, even if that bookstore is a B&N, and not a Mom&Pop, as there are so few of them left in the US.

kjk · 12-24-2009, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nabrum

To some of the naysayers, visit another country, especially go outside the big cities, and it's like your in another world.

They don't even want to leave their house to drive to the bookstore, and you want them to visit another country?

pilotbob · 12-24-2009, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjk

They don't even want to leave their house to drive to the bookstore, and you want them to visit another country?

Well... this is totally wrong. (I know you were half kidding.) I used to love to go to the bookstore and browse and buy a stack. Used to do it at a few used books stores and hit garage sales when I had less budget to spend.

But, with my Kindle I don't need to do this anymore.... so I don't.

BOb

stustaff · 12-24-2009, 04:06 AM

Madness.

Even assuming i like going to this place and browsing the books, once I have chosen them why would i then queue up and buy them their?

At home I have much better choices of where to get the Ebook and i also promise you if its a kiosk at the store that the 'kiosk' I have at home is a much faster cleaner nicer place to buy the books.

At the moment if im in town I may wander into a bookstore and have a browse and then i use amazons iphone app to take a pic of each book and auto add it to my amazon wishlist, then when i get home I look at it and see what I want to buy and where from.

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12-23-2009, 06:40 PM	#16
Mr. Goodbar Wizard Posts: 1,005 Karma: 98078 Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Mini 4	Personally I love the concept that the video represents. I like perusing bookstores and find myself still doing that and then checking online whether it's available in an ebook format. I buy very few pbooks anymore, but still like the social aspect of the neighborhood bookstore, although they are definitely a dying bread in the U.S. When traveling internationally I always find myself spending time in the local bookstores and would agree that there are definite cultural differences at work between the U.S. and many other countries, particularly in Europe.

12-23-2009, 06:48 PM	#17
omk3 Wizard Posts: 1,454 Karma: 37243 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Europe Device: pocketbook 360, kindle 4	In my local waterstones, there's a computer for the customers to use, with the waterstones site preloaded. What I usually do is, I browse the bookstore in my usual leisurely way, find some books I might be interested in, and then check them on this public computer, to see if they are available as ebooks, because, as many of you, I don't want to buy any more paper books if I can avoid it. If they are not, I buy them on the spot. Otherwise, I wait till I get home. You see, I too love the atmosphere of bookshops. And it is strange that even if I was anxious to change my reading habits to incorporate the new technology, my browsing habits are a bit behind. Online bookstores are fine if I know what I'm looking for, but for idle browsing and discovering, nothing beats the shelves of physical bookstores for me. Noting down titles, then checking them on the internet, then coming back to buy them in store because they're not available as ebooks is just too tiresome. I would LOVE to be able to buy an ebook right there and then, and would not mind the wait for an email at all (though kiosks are even better of course.) I'm assuming this all doesn't mean that these ebooks are not available through online stores. Just that you have the alternative to buy them from a physical store. I'd definitely love that. In fact, I miss it. I find myself going into bookstores and coming out empty handed (because I DON'T want more paper books, thank you) and feeling strange. I definitely welcome this move.

12-23-2009, 07:01 PM	#18
tech_au Oz Bookworm Posts: 516 Karma: 4056 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia Device: Sony PRS 505,PRS 650	This sounds like the exact same dumb idea the Aussie book chains were planning to use next year. The best way I thought might work was the idea that Programming text books used and that was a CD attached to the back cover containing the source code that was printed in the book. If an ebook version was attached to the physical book that might encourage people to go into the bookstore rather than purchase online.

12-23-2009, 07:30 PM	#19
Greg Anos Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,527 Karma: 37057604 Join Date: Jan 2008 Device: Pocketbook	Just a counterpoint. Before you write off the brick and mortar bookstore, look how much money Starbucks has made selling a cup of coffee to people who didn't need to go there for coffee....

12-23-2009, 10:09 PM	#24
alecE Evangelist Posts: 412 Karma: 546196 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: UK canal boat Device: sony prs505, prs650, kobo Glo HD liseuses	I like the idea, provided that anything that I want to physically browse clearly indicates if it is available electronically. Most of my ebook purchases are non-fiction and I find it tiresome and limiting to read a web site summary of a title instead of doing my own assessment. Plus I very seldom buy an ebook and start reading it immediately, so a delay between purchase and delivery would be acceptable to me. And I've never yet found a web site that gives me the same pleasure as browsing the physical shelves and making chance discoveries.

12-23-2009, 10:17 PM	#25
Jack Tingle Punctuation Fetishist Posts: 557 Karma: 1070000 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: The Bluest Commonwealth In East America Device: Kindle PW, Nexus 7 (2013), Galaxy S5 phone, Galaxy Tab 4 8.0	Screw all of this. I want the little orange folder number the chick had. Where can I buy one of thoes? Regards, Jack Tingle

12-24-2009, 04:06 AM	#30
stustaff Wizard Posts: 1,055 Karma: 2110 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Derbyshire UK Device: sony reader PRS505 and 600	Madness. Even assuming i like going to this place and browsing the books, once I have chosen them why would i then queue up and buy them their? At home I have much better choices of where to get the Ebook and i also promise you if its a kiosk at the store that the 'kiosk' I have at home is a much faster cleaner nicer place to buy the books. At the moment if im in town I may wander into a bookstore and have a browse and then i use amazons iphone app to take a pic of each book and auto add it to my amazon wishlist, then when i get home I look at it and see what I want to buy and where from.