Poll: Are bookstores dissapearing?

[thepyrethatburns]

Yes. I am old enough to remember when every mall had a Musicland. Now, I know that there are a handful of second-hand/indie music stores and stores like Best Buy still have their music section but the dedicated music store is pretty much dead.

Same thing is happening with movies. Bonehead manuevers aside, Blockbuster and Hollywood Video are being shoved aside for Netflix. To a lesser extent, Red Box although I think the market for Red Box will eventually follow.

Hell, I suspect that, in ten to fifteen years, physical media for video games will also be a thing of the past.

It'll be the same thing with bookstores. The indie stores will probably still cling to existence but major chains will become a thing of the past.

 

[targren]

But if it's a book YOUR own. xD I always like to be the first person to crack the spine of my books.

You sick freak! How would you like it if a book came along and cracked YOUR spine. Huh? HUH?! Yeah, thought so.

Now that I think about it, somewhat whimsically... It would probably be a George R.R. Martin book that did it...

 

[Chasing-The-Light]

But if it's a book YOUR own. xD I always like to be the first person to crack the spine of my books.

You sick freak! How would you like it if a book came along and cracked YOUR spine. Huh? HUH?! Yeah, thought so.

Now that I think about it, somewhat whimsically... It would probably be a George R.R. Martin book that did it...

Cracked my spine? Might feel good. xD BROKE my spine... not so much. I didn't imply that. I'm not saying abuse your books! I'm just saying it's an interesting feeling, for me, anyway, to know you're the first person who's ever opened that said book before.

Perhaps I worded that wrong in the first place. My mistake.

 

[targren]

But if it's a book YOUR own. xD I always like to be the first person to crack the spine of my books.

You sick freak! How would you like it if a book came along and cracked YOUR spine. Huh? HUH?! Yeah, thought so.

Now that I think about it, somewhat whimsically... It would probably be a George R.R. Martin book that did it...

Cracked my spine? Might feel good. xD BROKE my spine... not so much. I didn't imply that. I'm not saying abuse your books! I'm just saying it's an interesting feeling, for me, anyway, to know you're the first person who's ever opened that said book before.

Perhaps I worded that wrong in the first place. My mistake.

Nah. It's just 2AM and I'm feeling silly. Don't mind me.

 

[Chasing-The-Light]

But if it's a book YOUR own. xD I always like to be the first person to crack the spine of my books.

You sick freak! How would you like it if a book came along and cracked YOUR spine. Huh? HUH?! Yeah, thought so.

Now that I think about it, somewhat whimsically... It would probably be a George R.R. Martin book that did it...

Cracked my spine? Might feel good. xD BROKE my spine... not so much. I didn't imply that. I'm not saying abuse your books! I'm just saying it's an interesting feeling, for me, anyway, to know you're the first person who's ever opened that said book before.

Perhaps I worded that wrong in the first place. My mistake.

Nah. It's just 2AM and I'm feeling silly. Don't mind me.

Ahaha here too. I getcha xD

 

[Polarity27]

I don't think bookstores are disappearing. I'm one of the many who refuse to read a book on a tablet or anything other than having it in my hand. A tablet can't immerse you in the same way. It doesn't have the same cracking sound of the spine, or the same smell. I don't think you even get the same satisfaction of finishing it with a tablet, where it just ends, as opposed to actually closing the book, being able to look at it and see the story you just read sitting right in front of you.

... On second thought, maybe I'm the only one who thinks of it that way. XD

Or the same smell? Well, that's true. If I get an ebook from the library, it won't reek of cigarettes like the dead-tree book I had last month, or reek of... whatever the fuck the one I'm reading now reeks of (smells like mayonnaise, and I hate mayonnaise). My Kindle will never smell musty. I swear, I just don't *get* bibliophiles! You're either getting all your books brand-new, or they're smearing eau de crack on the pages, because it's like you've never had a stinky book.

Another huge advantage to the Kindle is that you don't have that annoying thing where you're trying to hold down the book and eat at the same time. I'm remembering entirely too many lunches at work where I'm trying to find something heavy enough to weight the book down with, and then the whole contraption has to be reset every time I turn a page. Nope, don't miss it. Don't miss how much doorstop fantasy hardcovers *weigh*, either.

I have a lot of gripes about e-books, but I can't deny the many advantages the things have over the dead-tree sort. Ask me how I feel about e-books when I move, too. I'll still have boxes of books that need to be moved, but several boxes fewer than if I hadn't bought my Kindle.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

It depends where you work at. Judging from what you've said, I'd take a guess and say you work at a local bookstore.

Nope, I'm in a chain. TBF, a lot of the local ones are feeling the pinch - but then most local stores are feeling the pinch - no matter what their product.

If I'm wrong, then I guess it's just like that where I live.

S'alright. I should've said as well.

 

[Korolev]

They'll never disappear entirely, but Ebooks are here to stay - I have an Ebook reader, and I intend to make the majority of my purchases in Ebook form - mostly because I've just run out of space for books - I have an entire room in my house dedicated to storing books, and it's full. My bedroom has about... let me check.... 110 books in the bookshelf itself and about 20 scattered around me. I've run out of space. I can't ever bring myself to throw away a book, so I have to buy ebooks from now on.

Bookstores ARE closing here in Australia - we've recently lost Borders entirely (it was owned by a different corporation than the US Borders store) and a good deal of A&R bookstores. The only good ones left in my area are QBD and Dymocks - the rest are just.... gone. Plus, why trek all the way to a store to find a limited selection when you can just order online?

Now some of us, like myself, still really like paper books. If I had room in my house, I'd still be buying them. So bookstores will never entirely disappear. But expect them to become almost a quaint novelty within 20 to 30 years. Ebooks are here to stay. Paper books and paper bookstores will go the way of the record store: they will become a novelty.

I'm not happy about that, but that's the future.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

Nothing beats a real book. At least I still have the libraries if the bookstores go.

 

[iblis666]

id say they are temporarily disappearing but that is mostly because of the borders fallout

as a person that buys all my new releases from barnes and noble and all my vast back log of books from recycle bookstore i just have to hope that paper books never go out of fashion

love this place feels like a bookstore should and they even have a cat
http://recyclebookstore.com/home

 

[Saucycarpdog]

It depends where you work at. Judging from what you've said, I'd take a guess and say you work at a local bookstore.

Nope, I'm in a chain. TBF, a lot of the local ones are feeling the pinch - but then most local stores are feeling the pinch - no matter what their product.

If I'm wrong, then I guess it's just like that where I live.

S'alright. I should've said as well.

oh. What chain? I think I remember books-a-million doing well for itself.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

oh. What chain? I think I remember books-a-million doing well for itself.

The Works

 

[aba1]

I think they are in the same way that CD stores are going out. its a slow death, cause people are still stubborn to let go.

I mean, I'll be honest. I'd love an e-book, just cause I could have so many books on one machine,a nd it wouldnt take up all that much space.

But I love holdinga book more. Feeling that crisp fresh page, or that old wrinkled one thats been worn after many a good read throughs.

So I dont know. Im a barnes and noble person. I like the atmosphere, and the friendliness. I'm hoping they stick around, but I somehow doubnt it. the young will inevitably push out the old, and the customs will disappear in wake of progess.

its better to buy things from stores though, population keeps growing but if things keep going online and the store keep closing and there is that many less jobs. In the long run we are screwing ourselves because everything will be digital and there simply wont be enough jobs for everyone.

 

[Zhadramekel]

I sure hope bookstores aren't closing down. I must have spent over 100 quid on books in the last month. Plus I've never been able to focus when reading something on a screen hence my dislike of kindles.

 

[Scarim Coral]

No we have not yet rely on electronic so much that it will replace books. I mean a mother still read a bedtime story to her child with a story book not a story ebook?

 

[bpm195]

There's a book store across the street from the Main Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, that somehow hasn't gone out of business. I never could understand this.