Hardcover Books are the New Vinyl Record
Image by Tac Anderson via Flickr
Amazon and the Kindle have killed the bookstore. Why? Because people who buy 100 or 300 books a year are gone forever. The typical American buys just one book a year for pleasure. Those people are meaningless to a bookstore. It's the heavy users that matter, and now officially, as 2009 ends, they have abandoned the bookstore. It's over.I'll be the first to admit that I buy a good majority of my books on Amazon. I'm a Prime member just so I can get free shipping. But I also paid to be a part of Barnes and Nobles Member program for the in store discount. I'm obviously an addict but there are worse vices to have. I've looked at the Kindle and I've thought really hard about the Nook. I'm sure I'll get one at some point but I doubt I'll buy fewer books. Over the years I don't have the time to read as much as I used to. When I buy books I don't buy softcover books anymore if I can help it and I'm upset when it's not a First Edition printing. If anything I see myself reading more magazine and newspaper articles on an e-reader. But like the audiophiles who learned you can't stop the flow of digitized media I know that I'm an outlier and for once I'm not at the front of the change I'm the holdout with the hardcover. There will always be demand for first edition hardcover books but it'll be niche. If you need me I'll be in my room smelling my books. Related articles by Zemanta
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