The End of an Industry

Barnes and Noble gave us lots of joy when the kids were growing up. Our normal source of books was the library. Each trip meant scarily large book bags filled to the brink each way. Unlike the library, Barnes and Noble had new books! Kids would buy books that they have already read. The new books that they can keep forever were so exciting.

The Harry Potter series brought memorable years associated with Barnes and Noble. We would wait for a few days for the crowd to thin down. Then there was the pre-determined reading order: younger daughter would devour the book first, older one followed, and daddy, the slowest reader, last. Kids would wait, in patient agony, for me to finish before talking about it. We all obeyed the code: never ruin someone’s good read.

Exploring the aisles was a joy. I would stroll over to the geeky sections: SciFi, software, managerial, woodworking, gaming, etc. They would disappear into the fiction area or the stationary corner. We would all linger at the bargain bins, calendars, greeting cards, book lights, bookmarks, etc. In Beijing and Taipei, where online book ordering is less popular, I went to the giant bookstores (王府井書店, 外文書店, 誠品) just to relive the exploration. (Look. There is the Chinese chess session. Give me a minute.)

Amazon changed everything. Gone are the days we scrutinized the jacket, read several pages, and took a gambit to invest part of our lives into a book. We no longer discover books. We manage our reading lists. Reading used to be about getting lost into another world. Amazon made that world a bit smaller. That’s really why the business of Barnes and Noble, and all other bookstores, declined. Collectively, people spent less to explore the world of books. The value of aisles diminished.

If Border’s experience repeats, Barnes and Noble won’t find a buyer. Like music and movies, the ink-based industry needs to transform into something else. No doubt I will experience this transformation. In the mean time, I will click on my browser and refill my reading queue.