For those that love bookstores

[DustyDisks]

Bookstores have a ambiance all their own that e-books will never replace. It would be a sad world when and if bookstore/library stacks with their looks/feel and the smell of new and musty smell of paper and leather would disappear.

I think there will never be a app that can replace the real world of real books.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by DustyDisks

Bookstores have a ambiance all their own that e-books will never replace. It would be a sad world when and if bookstore/library stacks with their looks/feel and the smell of new and musty smell of paper and leather would disappear.

I think there will never be a app that can replace the real world of real books.

Nostalgia is a deceiving lover.

Yes, I miss browsing a bookstore, or the occasional good advice from the bookstore-owner, or the look, the smell of books. Or the pleasure of having a nice, well-organized library.

Do I miss waiting for books? Carrying them around? Paying for an old classic? Not being able to find notes or highlights? Having to choose which books to travel with, or go on vacation? Dealing with small fonts?
Of course, not.

[BenBanned]

I do not see a hopeful future for privately owned bookstores either.
Maybe public libraries could fill the void and save their skins as well.
Or
Bookstores could come up with some other service in addition to book sales. On King of the Hill the other night Peggy sold guns and ammo to keep her failing bookstore afloat.


Who knows maybe bookstores are hogging all the market share and the demise of such elitist buildings will bring books into the perephrials of non-readers who do not frequent book stores.

[GlenBarrington]

I used to love bookstores, but the simple truth is just about everything about the ebook experience is better than a bookstore at least in regards to finding stuff to read. It's easier to find books, easier to browse, and there are lots of free books available (some of which are actually pretty good)

And except for a few big cities, the only bookstores available in the USA are B&N, so it isn't like the Bookstores are providing a strong reason to enter them. I guess it's possible to wax nostalgic for black and white TVs as well, but I don't really want to watch one!

[Quexos]

I think that's a little harsh a judgement. There is something to touching paper books and smelling them and enjoying the cover that is lost in the new technology, centuries of existence of a medium that has been around since before middle ages.
To completely end up paper books would be like, bringing down old works of art, paintings, statues, monuments etc because it all is "better" on digital pictures or online or whatever.
Someone said once that those who don't know (or forget) their past, don't have a future

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

And except for a few big cities, the only bookstores available in the USA are B&N, so it isn't like the Bookstores are providing a strong reason to enter them. I guess it's possible to wax nostalgic for black and white TVs as well, but I don't really want to watch one!

[QuantumIguana]

There's nothing elitist about a bookstore. It's just a store that sells books. It's open to anyone. No one is going to make you put on a suit and tie to enter the bookstore. Books aren't expensive. There are stores where you're afraid to touch anything for fear of breaking something and having to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars - but that's not a bookstore.

Fond memories of 8-tracks would be nostalgia, except for a very small number of 8-track fans, the 8-track is gone. Books aren't gone, and they probably aren't going to be gone for some time. I expect e-books to become dominant, but I don't expect the market share of paper books to shrink to the percentage that vinyl records have of the music indistry. Paper books are too far from being gone to count as nostalgia.

Paper books do have the advantage that they need no power, and can be given away, traded, loaned or sold. I can buy a used paper book cheaply, but I will have to pay full price for an e-book.

One thing I do like about bookstores is how the books are arranged. I walk into the science fiction section, and there the science fiction books are, arranged by author. When I search for an e-book, I often get results that are not at all what I am looking for.

I realize this is a website dedicated to e-books, but that doesn't change the fact that paper books have advantages too. E-books have their advantages too, of course. I grew up in a small town where the nearest bookstore was 60 miles away. E-books could have been of tremendous benefit. But paper books aren't the equivalent of black and white TVs. A black and white TV had no advantages over color TV other than price, and you're clearly getting less than with a black and white TV than with a color TV. You're not getting less with a paper book, you're getting something different. If you like what paper books offer, read paper books. If you like what e-books offer, read e-books.

[Shopaholic]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

And except for a few big cities, the only bookstores available in the USA are B&N, so it isn't like the Bookstores are providing a strong reason to enter them. I guess it's possible to wax nostalgic for black and white TVs as well, but I don't really want to watch one!

I don't believe that to be true at all. I think you just haven't looked or searched for them. They're not as visible as you drive around shopping malls and the like, no, but I know they exist. In small towns I highly doubt you're going to find a big name 10,000 square foot B&N store. You're more likely to find several independents instead of the big name chains.

[RHWright]

Originally Posted by Shopaholic

I don't believe that to be true at all. I think you just haven't looked or searched for them. They're not as visible as you drive around shopping malls and the like, no, but I know they exist. In small towns I highly doubt you're going to find a big name 10,000 square foot B&N store. You're more likely to find several independents instead of the big name chains.

The reality is that in most small US towns, if it's not large enough to support B&N or one of the few other chains remaining (say, Books a Million or BAM!, as I think they brand themselves now) you are unlikely to find an independent.

Maybe an indy used book store. In smalltown America, you're more likely to find books at the local Wal-Mart, supermarket, or drugstore. There are still many small independents (and large independents) out there selling new books, but many fewer than in the past. Most of them flourish in or around college towns or in smaller, upscale communities where "boutique" retailers also flourish.

[dkperez]

I live in one of those small towns and we still have a local bookstore. It's not BIG, but it's nice. But, even so, I so much prefer reading electronic books that I'm no longer buying paper. And I too don't miss the tiny fonts and having to carry 2+ dozen hardcovers when we travel.

There will be books on paper for a long time to come, but for just reading for pleasure, especially books that won't be read and re-read, e-books will be increasingly popular.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by vxf

Do I miss waiting for books? Carrying them around? Paying for an old classic? Not being able to find notes or highlights? Having to choose which books to travel with, or go on vacation? Dealing with small fonts?
Of course, not.

I kind of miss waiting for books. It was a pleasure to get a book parcel and fetch it and read a book directly. It enhanced the reading experience.

I also miss selecting books for travel. It was part of the pleasure of planning the travel.

But the convenience of an ebook still makes me choose ebooks but that can also be because I have a tendency to choose things that are convenint but not optimal.

[FatDog]

I know it's "Judging a book by it's cover" but I loved going to the new release shelf and seeing what the store thought was new and I discovered some authors by spotting books on the General Fiction section and the Sci Fi section.

I love Amazon but the Barns and Noble web site does a better job of showing New books this week and NY Times best sellers.

I do not discover many new books on Amazon as they only show 3-9 recent releases they choose to promote.

So I miss the 'discovery' of new books in a bookstore, or the thrill of the bargain shelf. For some reason the "$3.99 and under" pages at Amazon is not as fun.