Signs of the Times
I want to relay a book-buying adventure I had recently. So there I was in the Rivertown Barnes & Noble, sitting around the table with the lads discussing important things, and having accumulated a stack of material that looked interesting. Five books, on the following essential topics: Information Security, Napoleon, the Beatles, and Origami. Total price tag for the whole mess: over $115.
As is customary for our secret meetings, the conversation can cover just about any topic and it didn’t take long to travel around to the obscene cost of the books sitting on the table. ”You know, I bet you could get most of these books for five bucks on Amazon” I said haphazardly to myself. Inspired, I consulted my hand-held mobile device, through which I was able to communicate with Amazon directly. Turns out one of the books was $13, and the rest were all under $3. In fact, one of them was selling used for exactly one cent. I rounded up all five titles as quickly as possible, but was too late: the one-cent copy of The Beatles: The Unseen Years was gone. I ended up paying sixty-seven cents instead and had the strange feeling of being ripped off.
After my e-commerce triumph (costing me a total of just under $40 after the shipping) I was wandering through the store and bumped into a friend. I eagerly described my recent little adventure and wrapped up with, “I don’t know how these guys stay in business”. Just then, a squirrelly-looking gentleman working the music register across a shoulder-height bookshelf from us, raised his hand and said, “I’m these guys… I’m right over here…” and then launched into a sad and lamentable tale of woe about how they can’t possibly compete with that kind of thing, and we need to pay to take out trash and keep lights on and pay employees and silly things like that.
After issuing a few soothing statements to prevent him from cutting his wrists with a CD jewel case, we agreed that times are just changing and if Barnes hadn’t gotten into the e-reader business with the Nook they’d have already gone under just like Borders. Back at the table and on our way out the door, I was about to go re-shelve my stack of books (which I now already owned) when one of the lads reminded me that “they pay people to put those books back, so just leave them here… it’s much more efficient.” Point well taken.
