What!!
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| Photo by M Barrett Miller |
Barnes and Noble closed their store in the University
Village, in Seattle, a couple of weeks ago!
How could that have happened?
A major book merchant, and anchor store, going dark in a thriving shopping Mecca may be the canary in the cave.
Was the rent really jacked beyond affordability?
Why would a “mall” manager make it difficult to stay as a cornerstone in the sea of Chinese product options throughout the mall?
Have book sales dropped so far that it doesn’t make any sense to have a premier store in a mall anymore?
Are we subtlety being moved to Kindles, iPads, Nooks, as bookstores seem to disappear right in front of our eyes?
Is this our fault?
Is this my fault since I have cut back on buying books?
Yes, I’ve increased ordering books from my neighborhood library rather than forking out twenty or more bucks for a new book.
Yes, I downloaded a copy of the “Quiet Australian” written by a friend rather than pay the thirty plus dollars for his print on demand edition. Have you ever tried to read a 1,600 page book on an iPhone!?
Yes, the books I have written also have download ability. Yep, I make three times as much on an electronic edition than I do on a print edition.
Yes, I quit my subscription to the New York Times and the Seattle Times!
Yes, I am getting a lot of my news surfing news sites and listening to Progressive radio.
So, what’s left for me at the University Village mall?
I can get ripped on “Blue Indonesian” coffee at Starbucks and stagger over to the happiest store in the world, Apple, and drool over what I can’t afford.
How could that have happened?
A major book merchant, and anchor store, going dark in a thriving shopping Mecca may be the canary in the cave.
Was the rent really jacked beyond affordability?
Why would a “mall” manager make it difficult to stay as a cornerstone in the sea of Chinese product options throughout the mall?
Have book sales dropped so far that it doesn’t make any sense to have a premier store in a mall anymore?
Are we subtlety being moved to Kindles, iPads, Nooks, as bookstores seem to disappear right in front of our eyes?
Is this our fault?
Is this my fault since I have cut back on buying books?
Yes, I’ve increased ordering books from my neighborhood library rather than forking out twenty or more bucks for a new book.
Yes, I downloaded a copy of the “Quiet Australian” written by a friend rather than pay the thirty plus dollars for his print on demand edition. Have you ever tried to read a 1,600 page book on an iPhone!?
Yes, the books I have written also have download ability. Yep, I make three times as much on an electronic edition than I do on a print edition.
Yes, I quit my subscription to the New York Times and the Seattle Times!
Yes, I am getting a lot of my news surfing news sites and listening to Progressive radio.
So, what’s left for me at the University Village mall?
I can get ripped on “Blue Indonesian” coffee at Starbucks and stagger over to the happiest store in the world, Apple, and drool over what I can’t afford.
As Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy... and he is us.”
In this case maybe it’s the guy looking back at me from inside the mirror!
In this case maybe it’s the guy looking back at me from inside the mirror!
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