Bookstores!

[Ochalla]

I have a confession to make. I love book stores. Big stores, little stores, used book stores and shiny new book stores even. However with the convenience of online book sellers like Amazon some fear that we will be losing our neighborhood shops and stores. So tell me Iwaku, how do you feel about book stores? Do you think there's a place for them in the future? Have you drempt of owning one? What would you suggest if an owner listened on how to keep a book store relevant in the digital age?

The article that inspired this topic.

 

[Seth Bloodmoon]

I, personally, love bookstores. I can't afford to go to them very often but when I do I could spend hours just wandering around. I imagine bookstores will always be around, though their numbers will drop. Which I think is unfortunate.

Ordering books online might be easier, and Amazon tends to offer some really good deals, but it's a dull experience. As for digital books, they aren't for me. I just can't get into reading a book from a screen. It's just not the same as kicking back with an actual book in hand and losing myself for hours in the pages.

As for owning a bookstore, I don't think it's for me. I am not exactly an outgoing people person, lol. Well away from a computer screen at least. Which also makes it hard for me to think of any ideas I could offer to a person who wishes to run and maintain such a store in this day and age x_X;

 

[Santario]

I would love to own a bookshop or even run a public library. One of the best ways to keep a bookstore in the new digital age is to, as much as I disdain to say this, make it internet capable and probably have a coffee/smoothie shop in it.

As much as I can't afford to buy books all the time I still make it appoint to go to the closest bookshop that has a seating area, order a smoothie, and just chill for a few hours. Whether I am buying a book, working on my writing, or just relaxing. It's my place to chill so if it ever went away I'd be quite upset.

 

[Diana]

I LOVE THEM.


But books are dead. >> Just like CDs and Tapes and Vinyl are all dead. Sure, hipsters, older people, collectors, and fans are going to keep them and wax nostalgia and sometimes they're gonna become trendy again and new stores will pop up with cute coffee houses. But alas, we live in a digital age and soon all our media will be served through machines. O_O

I have been been rebelling against digital books pretty hard and have only recently decided I need to get with the times. >< I just don't have the SPACE to have a beautiful library of physical books, even though I'd love to. Curling up with a book by the fireplace is one of my faaaaavorite things! ANd browsing through bookstores and libraries is so much fun!

 

[October Knight]

I imagine new book stores fading away, but used bookstores will probably be around forever. Book hipsters and such.

 

[Fijoli]

I am obsessed with antiques so get me into a used book store thats known to hold old literature, you might never get me out of there. amazon is conveinient for kindle, but the smell of a book thtat was printed in the twenties can not ever be replaced. ​

 

[Fluffy]

I hope I never lose my bookstores. I'm sad to say that there's not one for many miles from where I am. :[ I miss my hometown, where I could go to a bookstore to enjoy some reading, or to do my homework. It's always so peaceful and quiet... Always smells really nice, too. I'm weird, I guess. >>; Even the used bookstores have a calming scent to me, especially if there's coffee brewing! Oh, and the cats. The Olympia bookstores with the wandering cats are the best, haha.

I bet the corporate places will eventually die. In my opinion, the shit there's overpriced. Also, we're slipping closer and closer into an all digital age. I won't own a Kindle or whatever-the-hell for a long time since my money has to go to more important things, but I imagine I would use it a lot if I had one. As well, I can get better deals through Amazon, or of course a used bookstore if they have what I'm looking for. I hope to never lose the comic book stores either. Those places, I value even more highly than regular bookstores. xD

 

[Scrap Iron]

I love the smell of books, and I have a few that I will hold onto for as long as I can, but I also have digital copies of most of those books and I almost exclusively do my book-type reading on my e-reader. Sorry, guys. I guess I'm personally involved in destroying the book store institution.