I remember when every mall had one, sometimes *two* bookstores, and there were little independent / used book bookstores all over the place as well as multiple "big box" bookstores. Now Barnes & Noble is the only remaining brick and mortar source for new books in most places, the independents are all dead or near enough, and now even the used book stores are going under.
I guess we're a post-literate society though, so I'm sure blogs are a perfectly adequate substitute for the sensation of holding paper in hand and reading for hours in a linear fashion as you experience new worlds... NOT. Sigh. I am getting old, and the world is changing, and not always for the better.
I bought a number of treasures there. Perhaps most poignant was the feeling of arrival when I plunked down $110 for the two-volume set of the OED (Compact Edition). Came with the case, with the drawer holding the magnifying glass and everything.
Back then, I didn't need that to read an entry. Now I need cheaters to read regular print.
In re B&N, the irony compounds, because I am currently contemplating buying one of their Nooks. Will you still get a cut if I go through you?
5 comments:
I remember when every mall had one, sometimes *two* bookstores, and there were little independent / used book bookstores all over the place as well as multiple "big box" bookstores. Now Barnes & Noble is the only remaining brick and mortar source for new books in most places, the independents are all dead or near enough, and now even the used book stores are going under.
I guess we're a post-literate society though, so I'm sure blogs are a perfectly adequate substitute for the sensation of holding paper in hand and reading for hours in a linear fashion as you experience new worlds... NOT. Sigh. I am getting old, and the world is changing, and not always for the better.
- Badtux the Elderly Penguin
Literacy Editor:
I dunno, reading is reading, paper or pixel. I still get lost in stuff for hrs.
But wandering the aisles of a bookstore and making a serendipitous discovery will never happen on Amazon.
And I still insist Borders firing me in 2002 was the final nail in their corporate coffin.
Ah, man, that's sad to hear. I spent a fair bit of money and a lot of time at that great place, back when I lived out there.
Thanks for passing along the news, though.
I bought a number of treasures there. Perhaps most poignant was the feeling of arrival when I plunked down $110 for the two-volume set of the OED (Compact Edition). Came with the case, with the drawer holding the magnifying glass and everything.
Back then, I didn't need that to read an entry. Now I need cheaters to read regular print.
In re B&N, the irony compounds, because I am currently contemplating buying one of their Nooks. Will you still get a cut if I go through you?
Oh, wait. You said "Borders."
Sorry. I still get those two B-stores mixed up.
Post a Comment