

Local Bookstores, Social Hubs, and Mutualization - michael_nielsen
http://www.shirky.com/weblog/2009/11/local-bookstores-social-hubs-and-mutualization/

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patio11
This same thing is happening to video game stores, too. They all sell a
product which is, inherently, interchangeable -- as soon as you get out of the
store with Final Fantasy XIII it doesn't matter what store you bought it. They
offer little, if any, value over purchasing it online. The game companies
would love to recover the 50% of the MSRP that they leak to the store, and are
getting into the online distribution act.

We've lost three video game stores in my town (of 150,000) in the last year
alone. Its almost annoying how often I have to switch shops. But well, not
_that_ annoying. I spent probably $2,000 at the first one to go under over the
years and it barely rated a "Shucks, that one was conveniently located next to
my gym." Which is part of the problem.

(Speaking of bookstores: I spend quite a bit on books, mostly through Amazon,
and every year at Christmas I go into Barnes and Noble with an empty duffel
bag and leave with a full one. This year I bought a Kindle. I doubt I will
ever enter an English bookstore again. Sorry guys... but, well, not too sorry.
I like books -- I have no particular attachment to you.)

~~~
stcredzero
_We've lost three video game stores in my town...it barely rated a "Shucks,
that one was conveniently located next to my gym."_

When Barnes and Noble starts including a Curves onsite, is it time to buy
their stock, or is it a sign they're on their last gasp?

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stcredzero
I think that Bookstores could try to do some things that would be _very
difficult_ for most people to replicate in their own homes.

(Sports Bars show us that this can be a model for profitability.)

How about a "magic wall" using some teleconferencing technology? Make it seem
like one side of the Cafe floor is in Austin, Texas, and the other side is in
Boston, Massachusetts? How about a "Minority Report" touchscreen as a virtual
bookshelf? More like a "Magical Bookshelf" where the shelves would magically
re-order according to your whim, and bibliographies or works cited could
appear as "flocks" of self-organizing covers flying around in space. Such
tools could be made, such that they have _real utility_. These could result in
superior interfaces for collaboration and research. (Of course, not everyone
wants to do their research in public, but a lot of people don't mind at all!
The former would rent such facilities at a co-working site. The latter might
just want to show off some esoteric tidbit they know about the Twilight
universe.)

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msluyter
I really liked this article. The other thing that could be added to his
reconceptualized bookstore is alcohol. There was a time (briefly) in the early
90's when bookstores were considered a good place for singles to meet. That
was probably an overhyped media story de jure, but some sort of hybrid
bar/coffeehouse/bookstore would be my ultimate fantasy nerd/intellectual
hangout. I'm not sure how to address various logistical problems, however
(spilling beer on books, inventory control in a porous social environment,
etc...)

~~~
wallflower
Another potential business synergy: Laundromats and beer

Suds and suds

Do your laundry, put it in the dryer, and mingle. For when are we at our most
unglamorous yet approachable as when we are folding our underwear? I believe
Portland or Seattle had one of these.

I've looked into this and there a lot of not-insurmountable hurdles (zoning,
licensing, insurance, smells, food safety, and, most importantly, noise/sound
proofing)

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joe_bleau
These are quite common in college towns.

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wallflower
What is the experience like? I'd like to not marry a dive bar with a from-
the-70s laundromat. Maybe something like a velvetty wine bar with little
coasters that blipped out which cycle your wash was in. When your wash was
done, you'd go through the airlock into the space-age laundromat (think sushi
bar with automated conveyer belts that would help you move your wet clothes to
an open dryer).

~~~
stcredzero
First off, I'd invest in combined washer/dryer machines. This would eliminate
the need for you to move clothes from one machine to another.

<http://amzn.com/B000QFGY7C>

Add a bunch of other automated conveniences, which replicate aspects of a
Cafe, gym, bookstore, co-working office, copy center, post office, etc. But
have superior design and decor, with attendants onsite to ensure the place
stays clean and comfortable.

Your "airlock" might be key. Concentrate resources to keep a "core" area with
optimum presentation and maximally clean and comfortable. Have these areas
separated from the other "utility" areas.

Basically, you'd be pooling infrastructure expenses for various conveniences
with other users.

This sort of thing has happened before. In the old days it was called a "city
block." Unfortunately, such infrastructure leaves something to be desired in
terms of design. The result is less than optimally clean and convenient.

I wonder if there's an opportunity for a new kind of "co-working mall" as
infrastructure? Have private-enterprise services compete to provide services,
all within a few minutes walk, inside an optimally designed environment?
(Perhaps these could start inside Hotels and Airports?)

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adriand
I'm not certain that bookstores are going to be put out of business quite as
thoroughly as record stores have been. Music is a bit different from books.
It's actually easier and better for me to have my music in digital format,
because then I can play it where and when I like. When it was on records or
CDs, it was still getting converted into electric signals before it came out
of the speakers, so the medium is unimportant.

On the other hand, I like having physical books. I enjoy the medium. I also
like having good books in bookshelves, I think it looks good and they're nice
to have around (like fine art and furniture, fine books tell you something
about people - that might be elitist, but I'm not afraid of that label).

Certainly book stores will be under a lot of pressure. But interestingly
enough, the small book store that opened up near my home recently has been
getting me books that are cheaper than what I've found online. Mainly this is
because they do not charge me shipping (their books arrive in bulk orders,
presumably shipping is spread out that way).

I've been finding books online, and then emailing the owner to get her to
order them in for me!

~~~
dagw
Books have another advantage over CDs in that they are easier to browse in
store. If I'm walking through a book store and see a book that looks
interesting it's easy to pick up and quickly read a bit to see if it interests
me. No one ever really solved that problem with CDs.

I often walk into a book store with no real plan of buying anything and walk
out with a book or two I happened to spot and decided that I wanted after
reading a bit.

~~~
mechanical_fish
_No one ever really solved that problem with CDs._

Or, rather, the problem was solved by inventing online music distribution. If
I want to sample a CD I look for it online. It is just so much better than a
listening station in a store. (I don't think I ever used one of those, even
when I used to go into music stores.)

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jakarta
Strand Books in NYC I think offers a model that is ideal for bookstores. They
feature a large used selection that is often price competitive or sometimes
even cheaper than Amazon's used selection. Especially when you take into
account the fact that Amazon Prime often does not work with third party
sellers.

However, I know some people are totally averse to used books.

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Tichy
That article seems a tad bit unscientific. Just because more books can be
ordered online than any physical bookstore could stock, it doesn't follow that
more books are successful (they may or may not be - I miss the data proving
the point).

One thing is certain, though: Amazon sucks as a recommendation engine.
Basically they also just push the bestsellers onto the public. It is very
difficult to browse and discover on Amazon. (Not counting "You may also like"
- will they really derive some exotic novels from someone reading the latest
Dan Brown?).

As we now (from actual scientific experiments), what becomes a bestseller in a
channel could be random to a big part. So the fewer the channels, the fewer
the bestsellers could be a possible conclusion.

On the other hand, maybe that bodes well for the small book stores - so far
they still have no competition on the web for individualized recommendations,
or personality (many small bookstores reflect the tastes of their owners).

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tjr
I've recently been buying quite a few books online... through Amazon's third-
party book service. I've found a plethora of academic books (e.g., edited
collections of research papers) for sale, maybe used, maybe new, at a fraction
of the regular Amazon price. I like to think that I'm not only getting a great
deal but also helping smaller independent stores.

