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Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

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Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#41

Post by jdiscar »

davis wrote: post #30

> When movies on cassette became practical, think of what it would have done to the Hollywood model if movies could be rented at the same time they hit theaters allowing people to see a movie for far cheaper than going to a theater? > That’s what publishers did. They allowed a far less expensive version of their books to be available right away, undercutting the sale of hardcovers with the cheaper e-version This is a…

> So movie theater > movie at home for most people.

I'm really wonder if that's true for most people. Sure, there are people that would rather watch in the theater, but there are also people who'd rather hold a hardcover to read.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#42

Post by didibus »

brandonmenc wrote: post #10

> That’s what publishers did. They allowed a far less expensive version of their books to be available right away, undercutting the sale of hardcovers with the cheaper e-version. And...? Is the author seriously trying to convince me that getting books into the hands of poorer people immediately is a bad thing? > Those who couldn’t afford the hardcover price knew they could get it at the library or get it in paperback…

I also hate hardcover, always preferred paperback, much easier to hold while reading.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#44

Post by secabeen »

davis wrote: post #30

> When movies on cassette became practical, think of what it would have done to the Hollywood model if movies could be rented at the same time they hit theaters allowing people to see a movie for far cheaper than going to a theater? > That’s what publishers did. They allowed a far less expensive version of their books to be available right away, undercutting the sale of hardcovers with the cheaper e-version This is a…

>The problem is that from a customer perspective, an ebook == hardcover in nearly all ways. It has the same story, it is written by the same author, you can read it at home or on the bus. There's no difference. In fact, some might argue ebook > hardcover since it takes up no space and you can use a Kindle and all the features it has.

The problem is that despite that being so, ebooks also have zero incremental costs. People recognize that, and so they resent eBooks costing as much as hardbacks. If eBooks were only and explicitly > hardbacks, people would happily pay more, but there's more to it than just value.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#45

Post by HalfwayToDice »

Ice_cream_suit wrote: post #40

"Then, too, there was me. I don’t have the easiest personality and I rub some/many people the wrong way. I can be too impatient and prickly and more than a few people have referred to me as a curmudgeon. I am all of that. I have always known that I have been the shop’s greatest drawback and I know it contributed, in some way, to the fall in sales." This is the reason that I have not shopped at bookshops for nearly 20…

Also the same with comic book stores and vinyl record stores.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#47

Post by setr »

lighthazard wrote: post #28
mdlowman wrote: post #11

I'm deeply saddened to hear that the Seattle Mystery Bookshop is closing. This feels like something easily missed in today's automation-based economy; the ability to go to an expert and get quality recommendations is not to be missed. Seattle Mystery Bookshop was only one of many excellent book stores in the Seattle area, but it seems that their number is diminishing by the day. I can only assume that that trend hold…

Is the major benefit an expert to give you recommendations? How is this different from any online medium like Reddit or Facebook where an expert can do the same thing, without a local constraint?

Reddit and facebook offer the ability for anyone to recommend to you, with no real way to filter their actual authority on the subject except by the one post itself (scowering through each person's history to get a better sense is beyond unreasonable).

With a bookstore, you can reasonably expect, at least to a certain degree, an authority figure. With facebook/reddit, you can reasonably expect nonsense, and maybe one somewhat knowledged guy piping up in a wave of shit.

Tbh, I have no idea why you'd bring up reddit or fb instead of at least hn, where the noise to signal ratio at least attempts to approach something useable.

Reddit and facebook are where you go to accidentally stumble into something useful; not when you're searching for it.

In fact, if you're looking for an expert, you usually go where few people go: because those you would find there probably have good reason to be there; places where its only worth being if you're an expert in the niche

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#48

Post by brandur »

jdiscar wrote: post #41
davis wrote: post #30

> When movies on cassette became practical, think of what it would have done to the Hollywood model if movies could be rented at the same time they hit theaters allowing people to see a movie for far cheaper than going to a theater? > That’s what publishers did. They allowed a far less expensive version of their books to be available right away, undercutting the sale of hardcovers with the cheaper e-version This is a…

> So movie theater > movie at home for most people. I'm really wonder if that's true for most people. Sure, there are people that would rather watch in the theater, but there are also people who'd rather hold a hardcover to read.

I'm not sure that the movie analogy works all that well from the position of either the article's author or your parent. For years theaters have been losing their edge as their experience degrades with price increases and the addition of advertising, and people's home watching experience continues to improve with bigger TVs and easier access to media.

But even so, theaters have been amazingly resilient to the digital age. I'd chalk this up to the fact that they provide a shared social movie-going experience that's not quite something you can replicate at home (i.e. it's something to go do with your friends), and in some cases, you want to see certain hits with a certain timeliness so that you can talk about them at school/work/with friends.

Hardcovers are just not like this at all. Even if you'd compare them favorably to an ebook, you'd be hard pressed to find one person on Earth who would say that they provide a superior experience over a paperback (except that they look more handsome on a bookshelf). They are, and always have been, quite simply a way for the publishing industry to squeeze a few extra dollars out of consumers who were willing to pony up the money so they could read a book early. This is exactly the sort of wrinkle that you'd expect to be ironed out in the Information Age — people's tolerance for this kind of profiteering decreases as access to media broadens.

The article's author is right that diminishing the edge of hardcovers is certain to cut into the margins of bookstores like his own, but he's wrong that it's a bad thing (directly). It might cost him money, but it's better for literally every single book buyer.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#49

Post by ars »

brandur wrote: post #48
jdiscar wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So movie theater > movie at home for most people. I'm really wonder if that's true for most people. Sure, there are people that would rather watch in the theater, but there are also people who'd rather hold a hardcover to read.

I'm not sure that the movie analogy works all that well from the position of either the article's author or your parent. For years theaters have been losing their edge as their experience degrades with price increases and the addition of advertising, and people's home watching experience continues to improve with bigger TVs and easier access to media. But even so, theaters have been amazingly resilient to the digital…

> Hardcovers are just not like this at all .... you'd be hard pressed to find one person on Earth who would say that they provide a superior experience over a paperback

I like hardcovers better than paperbacks. They are easier to read, larger usually, they stay open with less force, they don't break as easily.

The printing is higher quality, the paper is brighter.

There is a thing called (I think) a trade paperback which is a hardcover quality book with a paper cover.

Re: Why the Seattle Mystery Bookshop Must Close

#50

Post by Simon_says »

didibus wrote: post #42
brandonmenc wrote: post #10

> That’s what publishers did. They allowed a far less expensive version of their books to be available right away, undercutting the sale of hardcovers with the cheaper e-version. And...? Is the author seriously trying to convince me that getting books into the hands of poorer people immediately is a bad thing? > Those who couldn’t afford the hardcover price knew they could get it at the library or get it in paperback…

I also hate hardcover, always preferred paperback, much easier to hold while reading.

I always felt that way, too. Hardcover is a status symbol. Paperbacks are for reading.
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