Remaining Borders Stores to liquidate

[HalIncandenza]

You aren't staring at a Computer screen with a regular Nook or Kindle. I have both a Kindle and iPad and doubt I'll ever read a book on the latter.

Exactly. I completely understand the "physical book" lovers not enjoying reading on a Nook Color or iPad (basically a computer screen). But the e-ink on the b&w Nooks and especially the new Kindle are NOTHING like looking at a computer screen.

Once you go to reading 1000 page novels with a Kindle, I can't imagine anyone going back.

 

[TuffaloDeac10]

Exactly. I completely understand the "physical book" lovers not enjoying reading on a Nook Color or iPad (basically a computer screen). But the e-ink on the b&w Nooks and especially the new Kindle are NOTHING like looking at a computer screen.

Once you go to reading 1000 page novels with a Kindle, I can't imagine anyone going back.

I think Kindle has to get a little bit better at search/lookup. Having books with pages instead of locations is a good start but I still think it's lacking something.

 

[HalIncandenza]

I think Kindle has to get a little bit better at search/lookup. Having books with pages instead of locations is a good start but I still think it's lacking something.

It's certainly not perfect. It needs to be snappier, for one thing. Touch, at least for turning pages, would be ideal.

The question is, how much battery are you willing to sacrifice for generally superficial things. As it is now, I can go a few weeks without recharging, and that's with reading at least an hour everyday. If things like touch, snappier transitions/page turning, and better lookup/search is the sacrifice for crazy battery life, I'll take the status quo, personally.

 

[BaseballBoomhauer]

everything about the kindle is awesome. the battery lasts forever, it doesn't hurt your eyes, you don't have a million books to lug when you move (or find people to give them to) and you can lounge around without having to worry about pages flipping or blowing in the wind. i've been reading at a much higher pace since buying it.

plus i steal all my books from the internet because i'm a 1337 h4x0r.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

sucks b/c i really enjoyed going to Borders every now and then for a gift or just browsing and I have a Kindle

 

[TuffaloDeac10]

It's certainly not perfect. It needs to be snappier, for one thing. Touch, at least for turning pages, would be ideal.

The question is, how much battery are you willing to sacrifice for generally superficial things. As it is now, I can go a few weeks without recharging, and that's with reading at least an hour everyday. If things like touch, snappier transitions/page turning, and better lookup/search is the sacrifice for crazy battery life, I'll take the status quo, personally.

I agree it's not a dealbreaker overall. But I won't be getting John Bridges "How to be a Gentleman" books for Kindle as is. That said, Kindle works great for just about everything else.

 

[West End Deac]

My experience with your boards persona over the years tells me you're not so cold as to not feel for the 11k who will lose their jobs. It's unfortunate for them, no doubt.

Just got back from the Thruway Borders after reading the news. The employees were still doing their best but it was clear they were, for lack of a better word, depressed. The liquidation will take a few months -- it's not like they are gone on Friday. But they were sad. Talking to one, I noted that a savior could still appear. She nodded but said, as all of you have already concluded, that their model is just outdated. She said she never left Borders b/c there was nowhere to go.

I'll miss the place. Trips to the bookstore with your kids FTW. B&N may well be next.

Hard to shed a tear when the Edison puts the candlestick makers out of business. Props to Amazon and Barnes and Noble for moving with the market.

 

[BeachBumDeac]

B&N won't go for a while. They have smart management. They have a good technology and web presence. Borders didn't do shit with the internet for a while.

 

[wake]

B&N won't go for a while. They have smart management. They have a good technology and web presence. Borders didn't do shit with the internet for a while.

Borders' website was Amazon for a few years, how stupid was that

 

[West End Deac]

I guess I should have said that brick and mortar B&N stores may be next. But you are right -- Nook is saving that place (had no idea it had 27% of the digital marketplace until today -- not too shabby).

B&N won't go for a while. They have smart management. They have a good technology and web presence. Borders didn't do shit with the internet for a while.

 

[DeaconCav06]

This pretty much sums up the issue in my mind:

My 55 year old parents each have their own nook.

When I mentioned borders closing their response was, "they're still around?"

 

[tvcigar]

Well, another place to get man on the street interviews is gone.

 

[Milhouse]

Hard to shed a tear when the Edison puts the candlestick makers out of business. Props to Amazon and Barnes and Noble for moving with the market.

My experience with your boards persona over the years tells me you're not so cold as to not feel for the 11k who will lose their jobs. It's unfortunate for them, no doubt.

lol

 

[PhDeac]

I feel bad for people who have lost their jobs, but I've been pretty consistent on the politics board that high unemployment is the new normal because there were a lot of people who were employed by excess and resistance to change before the downturn.

Let's be real. If you work in a brick-and-mortar book store or record store in 2011, your time has been coming for the last few years.

 

[TuffaloDeac10]

I feel bad for people who have lost their jobs, but I've been pretty consistent on the politics board that high unemployment is the new normal because there were a lot of people who were employed by excess and resistance to change before the downturn.

Let's be real. If you work in a brick-and-mortar book store or record store in 2011, your time has been coming for the last few years.

Just wait til the machines learn how to do white collar jobs. We're all just marking time.

 

[PhDeac]

Pretty much. If you don't have a job that requires human creativity and ingenuity, you're in trouble. If you do have that job, you may have a few years to spare.

 

[TBR]

Borders' website was Amazon for a few years, how stupid was that

Just amazing. They didn't switch over till something like 2006.

They were caught in a very deep rest while the internet was happening.

 

[DeacNutt]

First, I feel for the 11k who have lost their jobs. I didn't realize the shutdown was an epidemic.

Still, I felt a moderate bit of Schadenfreude when the Borders in Richmond closed its doors. A bit of background...

I received a $50 gift certificate to Borders from an aunt two birthdays ago, and it wallowed in the gift card purgatory drawer until I found it and decided to go buy books that I had no need for, but had been eyeing nonetheless. I do the mental calculations, and with tax I will be just under the $50 mark.

I get up to the cash register, and this kindly older gentleman asks if I am a Borders reward member, to which I reply politely, no I am not.

He rings me up, and I am pennies over $50. I hand him a dollar bill, and he says, "Just so you know, if you were a Borders reward member, you would have saved 25% on your purchase today."

I say to him, "Well, sign me up," thinking, naively so, that I may yet get 25% more out of my gift card.

As he pulls out the paper work, he says, "Now this will only apply to future purchases..."

I was so pissed, I very nearly walked to the next register with my receipt, returned the books, and then went back to his register to sign up. Instead, I wished only that a kandaru fish make its way from the Amazon and lodge itself firmly in his urethra. Instead, 11k people are liquidated. I hope he has this on his conscience.

 

[Unpredeactable]

so how long until Wake starts handing out Kindles with laptops? How long until most students are buying nothing but e-textbooks?

pretty soon going to the library will be as simple as connecting to the wireless network

 

[PhDeac]

so how long until Wake starts handing out Kindles with laptops? How long until most students are buying nothing but e-textbooks?

pretty soon going to the library will be as simple as connecting to the wireless network

Probably in the next 10 years or so. I think it's going to be a tough market to fully crack for a few reasons. I think a few things need to happen first:

1. The technology has to catches up with students' needs. You don't read a textbook the same way you read a book for pleasure. Students like to take notes, they like to flip around multiple pages at a time and back and forth. And books are more reliable. What if an e-reader craps out while working on a paper or completing an open book test?

2. Professors have to get used to the technology. I have colleagues who are 30+ years older than me who struggle using Blackboard. They've been using the same books/readings for years and aren't used to reading online or from a device.

3. It has to fit the economics for the publishers and distributors. I doubt they're itching to ditch books. Textbooks are very profitable. If siff comes over here, I'm sure he can tell you much more.

4. It has to fit the economics for the students. Books on Kindle/Nook/whatever could be cheaper than a new book. I'm not sure of the price points. But students like to buy cheap used books and books they can sell back.

I'm curious what students here think about it.