Ezra and Matt are talking about chain versus independent bookstores. Ezra says:
I keep trying to figure out a reason I believe bookstores will survive into the future, but it seems pretty clear that books will eventually be as mercilessly digitized as music, and most bookstores will close, just as most CD stores were shuttered long ago. Tell me why I’m wrong.
I agree with Ezra, so I don’t really have anything to add except the suggestion that any answer to his question that includes the phrase “the way books smell” or variants thereof should be immediately disqualified.
I guess those happy Tuesdays meant nothing to you.
blah blah blah the warmth of vinyl blah blah
Yes, exactly (on both counts)
although also: what the hell are you talking about, Jon? And does your answer include the name “Morrie”?
You savage animals. It won’t happen in our lifetimes; in that I’ll take solace. Books! Check ‘em out!
Eventually, yes– but we still don’t have quality digital paper. The first requirement is a similar form-factor and weight analogous to a large hardback– Kindle and its ilk largely accomplish this, which is to their credit.
What has yet to be accomplished is providing a reading surface that can be physically flipped through, that displays art and text as crisply as paper, that doesn’t strain a readers eyes more than paper, and that has at least several hours of active battery life.
It’s a pretty long ways off.