Will there be "book" stores 5 years from now?

[jerry limonta]

We've all seen the onslaught of ereading devices like the Kindle and Nook as well as the new line of recently launched tablet readers and I'm wondering if / when do you think paper will books will go the way of records, cds and other mediums replaced by new technology.

If you're not familiar with the 30 + ereading devices now available you can view them at http://www.ereaderuniverse.com

[Stacy-Deanne]

Hi Jerry,

It's hard to say. There are things gone now that were here five years ago. I do believe physical books will always be around but who knows, ebooks may become the norm in 5-10 years. I've recently jumped on the bandwagon. Got a Sony Reader as a Christmas gift and I am loving that experience more than I thought. It's also got hard for me to get new books. Being a writer, I don't have a lot of time to trek to the bookstore to buy books and when I did, they wouldn't have the books I wanted. So I'd have to come back and order online anyway. Now I have millions of books at my fingertips as well as the advantage of having more space now that my books are on my reader.

So, I think this is a difficult question. I also don't think it's just because of ebooks but because of the economy. That's what's killing bookstores. Everyone's shopping online these days and the ones that are not don't go to the bookstore as often as they used to. I think we might see the end of Borders, definitely. They're almost dead now. B&N might be able to stay because they have the Nook and they might revamp their stores to fit into the future better. I definitely don't believe there will be as many bookstores as there are now. I live in Houston and we had tons of bookstores that closed in 2009 alone. That's horrible for a big city.

Another thing that might happen is that books become sold in places other than stores just for books. Like grocery stores, drug stores and walmart like now. But I don't think we'll have a lot of "just for book" stores now because they are all closing. One thing I don't believe will still be around is post offices. I think they will be gone in the future because no one's sending regular mail hardly and doing everything online. Look at pay phones, arcades and movie theaters. Even movie theaters might not be around in the future and everything might automatically be released on DVD. Only a handful of movies these days make enough money and theaters have been suffering for a while. We can add car washes and places like Office Depot, Office Max and Radio Shack. It's amazing how everyone is buying online. It's killing stores.

We all are going to have to adapt to how things changing. Who knows what will happen but if book stores are gone in five years, I wouldn't be surprised.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[jerry limonta]

As Bob Dylan said The times they are a changing .....

[t. olmsted]

I think stores like Borders and B&N brought about their own end. The reason more and more people are going online is because the experience of buying a book online isn't really that different from buying a book in a big box store. The same books are always featured regardless of the chain, browsing and finding something new is almost impossible, and there's not much reason to stop into one a store other than to buy a specific book. Whereas, visiting a little indie bookshop, each one different and special in its own way - is a completely unique experience. Most are more pedestrian friendly and you can spend hours wandering around discovering new things.

But of course, most of those were pushed out of business by the big box stores (if they're not already gone). Perhaps we'll eventually be seeing a shift back from the book supermarket to the little shop - where books go the way of vinyl records and become a boutique/niche market.

[Book Calendar]

Why shouldn't you go to a bookstore to pick up your choice of ebooks. Maybe you might want a hardcopy with something like Espresso Book Machine. Certainly there will be. You will get a book in five minutes if you want it printed as a trade paperback. If you want a quality hardcover pay a little extra for that coffee table book. Physical books are going to be a lot better quality to stay competing, better design, resolution, pictures, and layout. Books with lots of pictures don't translate well to the web. Ebooks represent 1% of current sales.

Print on demand is the only segment that is growing right now in the publishing world. You get what you want, when you want, and it is often better quality than the major publishers. What will be the norm is a demand for better quality physical books delivered on a qucker timetable. This will be offered as a bundled package-- do you want your book as an ebook, physical book, audiobook, do you want trailers, music, and other things.

[Stacy-Deanne]

Another thing I was thinking of is in five years, we don't know what else they might come up with. We're already reading books on phones, readers and on computers. No telling what other device comes along for reading and becomes popular. It's fascinating when you think about it. It goes both ways too. Ebooks may become the norm or they may fizzle out. That's a possibility. A lot of products and inventions started as trends and they fizzled. For example, The George Foreman Grill, LOL! Look how hot that was and now I'm not sure if they even make it. That could happen just like they could become something big. Remember how big VCR's were when they came out? Now the only way you can get a VCR is if you buy the DVD combo and in a few years those might be gone. DVD's might be gone altogether one day. They might invent something totally different. Who knows what will happen but the truth is, we will have to get used to things changing in many ways.

I think ebooks and physical books will be like CD players and ipods. They both will be around for a long time. I think there are too many people who like them both and also too many people who hate ebooks. So I definitely feel physical books will be around. Look at ipods. It hasn't put an end to CD's. I still listen to CDs and don't want an ipod. A lot of people are just like that. They are happy with CDs no matter how many songs you can get on an ipod, it doesn't make them like it. Same with ereaders, it doesn't matter the advantages of them if an individual's just not interested.

For music stores and book stores to survive they'll have to adapt to the future and they know that if they plan to survive. Today's model of bookstores might not be around. Stores will have to adapt. Remember how it was when B&N added Starbucks to their stores and that was so popular? Starbucks went downhill and now I could probably name only two B&N in Houston, if any that still have a Starbucks. That was one way bookstores tried to lure in customers with coffee, but that was short-lived because Starbucks fizzled. So just like they changed to get customers in in the last decade, they will have to change to keep customers coming in the future.

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Linda]

The large chains will probably be around, but the small independent book stores are already struggling and closing.

[William Bentrim]

The printed page still holds appeal, even with kids. Until technology comes up with a much more durable ebook it won't replace paper just for the durability factory. My grandson carries books in his backpack. My copy of Eldest looked like a truck ran over it but it was still readable. I some how doubt an ebook subjected to the same rigors would survive. I am wired out the yingyang and read books on my pda and computer but still prefer a paperback. The cloth books my soon to be one year old grandson loves would be hard to replace with another gadget. So I think their will be a market for books and I think that there will be book stores. They may not be in the format that we currently see. They may only be a kiosk with a high speed printer and the book may be printed and bound on demand as you wait. I have cultivated a love of books in my kids and grandkids. I don't think I am alone in that. They will need a place to buy those books. So I think book stores in some configuration are here to stay.

[jerry limonta]

The durability on these devices just took a huge leap forward. Check out the new Skiff reader: http://www.ereaderuniverse.com/page/skiff-reader

[Stacy-Deanne]

Good gracious that's thin! And what a strange name, LOL! Wow, ereaders are beginning to be like cell phones with a different one coming out every month.

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Georgina M Donovan]

An excellent discussion! The wave of the future is everything in a palm-held package. Nothing will ever beat the scent, the feel, the excitement, of browsing a bookstore. And there will be some old timers who will never convert to hand helds. The future, though, is cyberspace. That disappoints me, since I am a fan of small specialty shops. My protagonist in my first novel is the owner of a mystery bookstore, so I am hoping the real stores can still survive.

[sari]

Hopefully the publishers will continue to realize not all of us are on the e-reader bandwagon. I for one will always want true books in my possession. What we may see in 5 years is stores with both hardbound books and some type of way to purchase ebooks.
Long live books!

[Christy]

I think there is room for both mediums. There is nothing quite like the smell of a bookstore. I love it. And I love the books that line my bookshelves. And I know there are still quite a few people who feel the same way too. But there is a practical use for the ereader also. I've a friend studying abroad in Great Britain and while she could never have taken her entire library with her, she was able to take digital versions of all her books.

I would hope that physical books would always be around, if only for the sake of the public libraries. Not everyone can afford an ereader, nor can they afford to download the books that aren't offered for free. Simply because someone doesn't have the means to keep up with technology doesn't mean they are to be excluded from the simple pleasure of reading a book or acquiring the knowledge that is held in them.