To 'E' or not to E-Book, That is the Question

(source: http://ebookfriendly.com/2011/11/25/alternative-literature-comic/ )

"I want to make this crystal clear: I love bookstores. I love going to them and checking out the bookshelves and the magazine racks, and finding some good things to read. I discovered a bunch of books and magazine because of bookstores...That being said, I find more and more often that I go into bookstores and leave empty handed...There is just no substitute for a real, physical book... I also have a pretty nice bookshelf that would go to waste if I didn’t keep buying print books...but as I said in the intro, I tend to go into bookstores with the intention of buying a book, and end up leaving empty handed."

Author:  Joe Casobano
Date:  January 11th 2012. 
Title:  Why I don't by from bookstores. 
To read the article in its entirety, please click on the below link:
http://web.appstorm.net/general/opinion/why-i-dont-buy-books-from-bookstores/

"Part of  the whole experience of buying a book (or any other media for that matter) you are actually getting a physical manifestation of that work which then gets proudly displayed on a book shelf. Buy an ebook and all you really have is an electronic file stored on a device that you only ever see when you switch the ereader on. Yes ok you can read it within seconds but part of the fun for me is the anticipation of waiting for that box of books (if you bought online that is).

Author:  unknown
Date: 05/01/2012
Title:  Why I stil buy paperbooks
To read the article in its entirety, please click on the below link:
http://sfbook.com/news/why-i-still-buy-paper-books/?p=2141


Couple important facts about how we perceive books and bookstores 


a) Shopping at a book store makes us look smart
b) Having books in your home, neatly organised on a book shelf makes you seem well accomplished; having them in a disarray makes you seem scholarly
c) To be seen walking around with a 'thick' book in your hand does boost your reputation as being sensible and educated.

I think that it is quite safe to say that customers would always see the need for  hard copy books; however, would there still be a need for a bookstore?  Books can be purchased online and in fact are much easier to purchase online due to the capability of having a vast amount of customized information at your fingertips.  There's no need to stand around for minutes searching through the shelves to find the book you're looking for or one that you might be interested in. Also when purchasing online you are able to compare prices and read customer reviews.  This is not something that bookstores currently offer to its customers to enhance in store purchasing.  The other issue is that there is very little reward gained in the whole shopping experience - customers are not leaving the store feeling uplifted with their fingers tightly grasp the straps of the shopping bag from the teller.

To survive in this digital age, Waterstones must focus on how they could enhance the buyer's experience
 for in store purchasing.  There is a different needs being fulfilled for the 'online' purchaser and the 'in store' purchaser.  The quicker they find out who these customers are and what they want the better chance they would have at surviving in the future.

As  for me, I am  an online purchaser of books - I love things quick and easy and I am not a fan of ebooks, it's just not the same as reading the real thing.  There is very little value in the buying experience of driving to a book store, parking, paying for parking, walking to the store, entering the store to be bombarded by the aroma of coffee, climbing the stairs, searching for the area that my book would stored, then standing there steering at the towers of books hoping to find the title that I need to only check the back cover to ask myself --Is this price for real? Can I find it cheaper somewhere else?  Is this book really worth this amount?  Do I really need it?

N-E-How, that's my thoughts for the day about Waterstones - who really cares about the- apostrophe-S-bookstore.

Good night all -- before I go, I'll leave you with a few favorites from my bookshelf.