The rise of E-Books has destroyed a cherished institution of business. With no thought to the consequences of this idiotic yet profitable innovation, Kindle and Nook sales have bankrupted the Borders chain of bookstores, putting another 70,000 people on the unemployment line, and that may only be in the U.S.! Why do people suddenly feel it is so important to have a 3-story library in their suitcase, when the whole idea of traveling is to get away from routine!? If all that you do on vacation is stare at a computer screen, you may as well be going to work! Is a jukebox in your pocket such an essential that you cannot carry CDs in your car, or turn on you satellite radio!? And why must one break up a long car ride with a couple of movies. Don't families talk to each other anymore, ever? And I say to all the drivers,
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!!!
But despite all the efforts of authors, musicians, and executives in the company, America's obsession with useless and redundant junk has now made at least seventy thousand more people unable to afford a Kindle, Nook, or any book they could download to it. And my little town is stuck with no place within 20 miles to buy a book and cup of coffee! Another option for an evening's entertainment has been forced to close.
This idiocy has got to stop. I urge all who read this(especially the Americans) to boycott/return the useless Kindle and Nook, try actually BUYING BOOKS, MUSIC and FILM instead of downloading everything that people need to sell in the physical world, because no one can live only in the digital world, and real people need real jobs. Remember, the fewer jobs there are in America, the less products can be made here, and no money means no books, music, films can be bought, leading the authors, musicians and filmmakers to stop writing, recording, and producing... destroying the industry leads no culture left at all.

Your Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pcangry.gif

P.S.: Forgive my lack of the usual levity here, my friends. But my local Borders was like a second home to me, and seeing it liquidated has me so upset I can't even joke about the situation.

The rise of E-Books has destroyed a cherished institution of business. With no thought to the consequences of this useless yet profitable innovation, Kindle and Nook sales have bankrupted the Borders chain of bookstores, putting another 70,000 people on the unemployment line, and that may only be in the U.S.! Why do people suddenly feel it is so important to have a 3-story library in their suitcase, when the whole idea of traveling is to get away from routine!? If all that you do on vacation is stare at a computer screen, you may as well be going to work! Is a jukebox in your pocket such an essential that you cannot carry CDs in your car, or turn on you satellite radio!? And why must one break up a long car ride with a couple of movies. Don't families talk to each other anymore, ever. And I say to all the drivers,
KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!!!
But despite all the efforts of authors, musicians, and executives in the company, America's obsession with useless and redundant junk has now made at least seventy thousand more people unable to afford a Kindle, Nook, or any book they could download to it. And my little town is stuck with no place within 20 miles to buy a book and cup of coffee! Another option for an evening's entertainment has been forced to close.
This idiocy has got to stop. I urge all who read this(especially the Americans) to boycott/return the useless Kindle and Nook, try actually BUYING BOOKS, MUSIC and FILM instead of downloading everything that people need to sell in the physical world, because no one can live only in the digital world, and real people need real jobs. Remember, the fewer jobs there are in America, the less products can be made here, and no money means no books, music, films can be bought, leading the authors, musicians and filmmakers to stop writing, recording, and producing... destroying the industry leads no culture left at all.

Your Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pcangry.gif


I tend to agree with these sentiments Doc.  Our local Borders closed down some months ago. Unfortunately, that same group had previously acquired another book chain (Angus and Robertsons) ... and they have now gone as well. We only have a handful of places to buy books now. I prefer the second hand book stores anyway.  But second hand books were new at some stage... :-\\  However, it is like trying to hold back the tide. My kids all wear headphones when we are driving ... I am talking to them about things we are seeing along the road ... and there is no response...they missed it ... but got to here some music that probably hear every day. I admit that I don't understand it and I find it an ignorant way to exist (with others around). I have banned the damn things on short journeys.  I am also glad that the electronic age was not around when I was young. 

borders sort of did themselves in...they were way over priced in a lot of areas. Additionally they had the chance to jump on the ereader bandwagon but wanted to sit back and see which way the market went....guess they know now.

I still like reading books via paperbacks and newspapers via regular ink print,the old fashioned way.

70K People?! :o

I think the internet is now taking our jobs away....

70K People?! :o

I think the internet is now taking our jobs away....



That's what's happening,the technology is moving forward to making things better,faster and quicker of today,It's making our lives simpler.You can shop online,you can play music online,you can order online, you can talk to people online and you can play games online,just about anything can be done with a computer.

That's what's happening,the technology is moving forward to making things better,faster and quicker of today,It's making our lives simpler.You can shop online,you can play music online,you can order online, you can talk to people online and you can play games online,just about anything can be done with a computer.

How much shopping can you do if an internet service renders your job obsolete? What money will you have to spend then?
No one is looking at the long-term consequences, as usual. Kindle and Nook are the 21st-Century equivalents of nuclear weapons, ChloroFlouroCarbons, plastic soda holders, and DDT. Only now the economy, rather than the environment, is suffering.

Your Disgusted Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pcangry.gif

I hate Kindle too.  You have to buy some piece of crap gadget first in order to read a book.  Then there will be Kindle 2.0 and KindlePlus, or whatever.  They'll keep the customer spending more money for cyber reading devices.  I liked the equality of reading.  You could just get a library card and it didn't cost anything. 

It sucks people are losing their jobs, but Borders and Barnes and Noble put thousands of mom-and-pop bookshops out of business over the past 25 years. 
::)

I hate Kindle too.  You have to buy some piece of crap gadget first in order to read a book.  Then there will be Kindle 2.0 and KindlePlus, or whatever.  They'll keep the customer spending more money for cyber reading devices.  I liked the equality of reading.  You could just get a library card and it didn't cost anything. 

It sucks people are losing their jobs, but Borders and Barnes and Noble put thousands of mom-and-pop bookshops out of business over the past 25 years. 
::)


They have just about destroyed the small bookstore.  Now if you have a library card you can borrow from multiple libraries, I spend a lot of time at the libraries.

How many new jobs were created at the Kindle factory?

Border's is not the first business to go belly up due to the march of technology.  Anybody here buy a carburetor lately?  A buggy whip? Replacement buttons for their shoes? A slide rule? The guys at the pay phone factory are outta luck due to cell phones.

Nearby to my abode here in Beaver County we have an exception... the Standard Horse Nail Company.  www.stanho.com/about.php  In the early 1900's they were one of the largest makers of horseshoe nails in the world.  But when they saw their demise coming straight at them when automobiles came along, they went on to invent the Woodruff Key and are now a major global supplier of this key component to automotive engines and any shaft that needs a key (insert cheap gag humour here).   8)

They have just about destroyed the small bookstore.
I do hope you are talking about Kindle & Nook, Borders/B&N may have created a problem for the smaller guys, but these stupid E-Books will not solve it. In fact, regardless of size, they make the problem worse for ALL bookstores!


How many new jobs were created at the Kindle factory?
Nowhere near 70,000. That much is certain. And I severely doubt the Borders people will be offered any jobs by Amazon.

Your Still-Furious Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pcangry.gif

How many new jobs were created at the Kindle factory?

Border's is not the first business to go belly up due to the march of technology.  Anybody here buy a carburetor lately?  A buggy whip? Replacement buttons for their shoes? A slide rule? The guys at the pay phone factory are outta luck due to cell phones.

Nearby to my abode here in Beaver County we have an exception... the Standard Horse Nail Company.  www.stanho.com/about.php  In the early 1900's they were one of the largest makers of horseshoe nails in the world.  But when they saw their demise coming straight at them when automobiles came along, they went on to invent the Woodruff Key and are now a major global supplier of this key component to automotive engines and any shaft that needs a key (insert cheap gag humour here).   8)


I'm not convinced it was Kindle that put Borders out of business.  Amazon had probably had much more to do with it. 

It's like Netflix versus video store.  The old bricks-and-mortar video stores were simply not competitive.  I almost cried walking by the store front that used to be Pleasant Street Video.  I knew the hipsters that ran it.  You could go in there and talk to those guys about Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock, or John Waters and they always had some suggestions.  Sure, computer software can give you pointers, but it's not the same social experience as going into your corner video store and swapping some jokes with the clerks. 

Same thing with the Globe bookstore across the street.  The place went out of business years ago, but I still remember going in there and poking around on the dusty shelves looking for a curious surprise or a good bargain.  Same with the records stores.

I've bought $60 hardbacks on Amazon for ten bucks.  When you're buying on a budget, it doesn't make economic sense to buy full-price from Borders when you can order it from some seller in Omaha for a fraction of the price. 

Kindle is new.  The corporate sponsors are aggressively pushing it, but Kindle still has only a tiny percentage of the market.  It's not people subscribing to Kindle instead of buying books, but people buying books for cheap on-line.  Thus, it's a new means (the Internet) to buy an old technology (books). 

I sure hope Kindle doesn't drive the book into a niche market.  I for one do not enjoy reading hundreds of pages on a computer screen.  I would rather read a book.  Easier on the eyes, and the only thing you have to keep charged is your brain.
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/11/book1.gif

I hate Kindle too.  You have to buy some piece of crap gadget first in order to read a book.  Then there will be Kindle 2.0 and KindlePlus, or whatever.  They'll keep the customer spending more money for cyber reading devices.  I liked the equality of reading.  You could just get a library card and it didn't cost anything. 

It sucks people are losing their jobs, but Borders and Barnes and Noble put thousands of mom-and-pop bookshops out of business over the past 25 years. 
::)


I like reading books the way we used to do it,go to a local library and get a book.

I'm not convinced it was Kindle that put Borders out of business.  Amazon had probably had much more to do with it. 

I sure hope Kindle doesn't drive the book into a niche market.  I for one do not enjoy reading hundreds of pages on a computer screen.  I would rather read a book.  Easier on the eyes, and the only thing you have to keep charged is your brain.
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/11/book1.gif

Amazon manufactures Kindle, Max. They sold plenty of paper-and-ink books before coming out with this atrocity! And I do not enjoy reading whole books on a computer screen, either. http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/10/ylsuper.gif


I like reading books the way we used to do it,go to a local library and get a book.

Good idea, Howard. And buy books from any mom-and-pop place you can find. Use B&N instead of Amazon to order used books from other people, if that's the only way you can find them, let us try to spindle the ill-gottten profits of Kindle any way we can!

BTW, Danoota? I just looked at your reply below, another fine point! Karma + 1.

Your Enraged Pal,
Doc
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/07/pcangry.gif

How many new jobs were created at the Kindle factory?



The Kindle factory in?