booktrade.info - Opinion - Bookshops Face Bonfire

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Monday 13th February

Bookshops Face Bonfire

Posted at 12:59PM Saturday 19 Dec 2009

Long queues at the checkout in a Borders store in Manhattan last weekend, but instead of being a good sign for the ailing bookseller, I watched a business model crumbling in front of my eyes.

Almost like dominoes, shoppers in front of me pulled out their iPhones, checked Amazon.com for the books they had in their hand, put them back on the nearest shelf and then walked out the door. So I did the same. Amazon is shipping wrapped presents to my loved ones, as you read this.

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