The alternative wouldn’t be the perfect book store, but probably no book store. Maybe Bezos wasn’t told the ‘right’ way to make a book store, but what of it?
Amazon.com has given access to a variety of books people who don’t live in New York would never even hear of if they were stuck with the selections of an independent book store buyer’s taste. As someone who has only worked in independent book stores (no chains) I’ve lost much of my romantic feelings about such.
I’m glad you can get your favorite drink and sit down for a free read, but you seem ignorant of the fact that many think THAT is the mentality that helped kill the book stores so many claim to love — the idea of a book store as some sort of lifestyle-conscious cafe for armchair socialists, instead of a place that sells books, period. Whatever one thinks of Amazon’s monopoly, it has given access to books to many, many people who aren’t urban socialist poseurs looking for their exotic drink with their paper. Who cares if Amazon’s physical stores amount to one big dumb ad for their top 10 list? Just don’t go there — problem solved.
