Earlier quoted context omitted.
This makes me wonder why physical retail stores don't follow Apple's approach by developing an app so shoppers can self-check out.
The app would likely be more expensive to develop and maintain than hiring a few seasonal part-timers per store (2000 people at, let's face it, minimum wage for a month is about $4M that immediately converts to sales numbers just by being conscious enough to operate a register - that's cheaper than ~10 software devs in America (at least two of which are specialists - iOS/Android devs), a manager, an office, their equ…
The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
231–240 of 461 posts
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
Patricia C Wrede, Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Ursula K Le Guin, Judy Blume and Anne McCaffrey are some authors who have outstanding books for girls in that age range, in case you find yourself with the same problem again.
Thank you! Any specific stories you recommend? The problem I was having with the things I was looking at were that a lot of them seemed to be basically romance novels for kids.
But I liked the Dealing with Dragons series from Patricia C. Wrede (humorous), The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword from Robin McKinley, and the Dragon's Blood series from Jane Yolen.
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#233Earlier quoted context omitted.
The part you're missing is that jobs will also be created while others are destroyed. We lost tons of horse caring jobs as we switched to the automobile but it didn't wipe out society.
The folks who are worried about AI destroying jobs are aware of this cycle, but they think that it's different this time. Specifically, that technology has previously allowed workers to be more productive by shifting away from manual labor and towards cognitive work that requires the human mind. But AI is a unique threat because it can match (and then quickly absolutely dominate) humans for any kind of work that requ…
Shorter work week!
Higher taxes, spent on social services. There is tremendous need for all kinds of social services in the US. Such occupations could fill a lot of jobs. Social workers, teachers, judges, police, EMTs, soldiers, programmers, managers, infrastructure building, doctors, financial counseling, career advisors. If the Republicans could let go of their incoherent,burn the house down strategy of governing, things could really be put on a better footing.
Limitations on amount of AI that can be utilized in a company. It’s simply not viable to exclude large percentages of citizens from the working economy, and think that the technicians and managers will capture increasing proportions of the economy’s output. There’s no rule that we simply have to accept unfettered and increasingly Darwinian capatilistic competition, as it destroys society. I doubt it’s even possible in the US, as the sort of brutality required to maintain this type of extreme system is antithetical to the spirit of America. US citizens have some notion of themselves as having worth and rights.
The history of the labor movement shows that constraints on trade in the name of improving working conditions is possible.
My view is that we see the ugly rumblings of what a backlash might look like in the election of Trump. I understand some of the frustrations behind Trump as protest. I don’t think that is working that well. Things aren’t actually that bad in the US, compared to what they could be. There will be time to change course if things really start to disintegrate.
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s weird, but some stores are thriving and others are dying. The one in downtown Santa Monica Ca is super crowded whenever I went there, while the one in downtown Bellevue WA is super dead. My impression of B&N changes quickly....
Funny enough that one in downtown Santa Monica just shut down after being open for twenty-something years. Source: I work/live near there and always went. Also http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2018/01/barnes_noble_close...
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#235My last employer did this. Not so much the exact scenario, but they constantly assured us they were fully committed for the long-term to our satellite office that they opened. They went out of their way to reiterate this quite regularly and put a good of effort into it. Until one day they showed up and shut down the entire office.
I just don't understand why. Who treats people like that? It's not like these decisions just suddenly pop up out of the blue one morning and a decision to fire people has to be made immediately. Clearly companies have to mull over this type of stuff for quite some time. I don't understand why you reassure people like that only to completely up-end their lives. Knowing that B&N pulled this crap, I'll definitely be avoiding them moving forward.
So moral of the story is, when I company has to start assuring you that you most definitely won't be let go any time soon, it's a pretty good indicator that it'll be happening very soon.
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#236I was out shopping 3-4 days before Christmas this year, and happened to be near a Barnes and Noble so figured I'd grab a copy of a magazine I've been wanting to read for a while. Grabbed the magazine, wandered the aisles a bit and picked up another book then went to check out. Basically I was their marketing department's dream - walk-in traffic coming to buy something cheap and specific who made an impulse retail buy…
This happens in a lot of places. The shopping experience may be nice but the actual payment experience is atrocious. Honestly if I have to wait more than 10 minutes to pay for something, I just don't buy anything, or purchase online instead. Even if there are long queues, there are many ways you could improve the experience - for example get an automatic ticket to get "in line" in the system, and get called when it's…
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s weird, but some stores are thriving and others are dying. The one in downtown Santa Monica Ca is super crowded whenever I went there, while the one in downtown Bellevue WA is super dead. My impression of B&N changes quickly....
you mean the one in bellevue near the new amazon building in bellevue across the lake from amazon hq1? I'm not sure that's the best store to example off of.
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't majority of books for them? Anyway, try Asimov if she is closer to 14. 14 is when that stuff is still interesting. Edit: why the fuck would someone downvote this?
I would really like to know what is wrong with Asimov as suggestion for 14 years old kid.
And, I also downvoted this comment because asking why you're being downvoted is not only dull, it adds nothing to the conversation.
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#239Earlier quoted context omitted.
But the rest of the year, the stores are empty. Which validated the company's decision: why have a bunch of full time employees, when what it really needs is part time and flexible employees to handle holiday surges (probably caused by waiting for Amazon shipping to not be an option).
Not the one near me (in Phoenix, near Arizona State University). It's a major anchor in a shopping center, and is busy every time I'm ever in there. The employees are also really helpful. This Christmas, I was trying to find some books as a christmas gift, and the staff made a bunch of suggestions based on books that they had actually personally read. Sidenote: finding appropriate books for 8-14 year old girls is rea…
The award covers a wide range of ages, so some books might be too young.
Here's a press release for the 2018 long list: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/press.php?release=pres_2...
Here's a list of all Carnegie winners: http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/archive.php?medal=carneg...
Here are some Twitter accounts that might be useful: https://twitter.com/FaberChildrens
https://twitter.com/PuffinBooks
https://twitter.com/WalkerBooksUK
Re: The unnecessary demise of Barnes and Noble
#240> The people who lost their jobs had been actively assured this would NOT happen for the past several months. My last employer did this. Not so much the exact scenario, but they constantly assured us they were fully committed for the long-term to our satellite office that they opened. They went out of their way to reiterate this quite regularly and put a good of effort into it. Until one day they showed up and shut d…