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Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

theguardian.com

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Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#61

Post by galfarragem »

meric wrote: post #2

When playing a board game, like Terra Mystica, where there are choices I can make, and there are random elements that change from game to game, there's two routes I could go - The first is to play out the plan I've thought about so many times previously, to align the choices I make with that plan as faithfully as the random elements allow. The second, is to completely ditch whatever was in my plan, look at the random…

Great comment. So, as I understand:

strategy 1 = idealism

strategy 2 = realism

strategy 3 = pragmatism

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#63

Post by bikamonki »

meric wrote: post #2

When playing a board game, like Terra Mystica, where there are choices I can make, and there are random elements that change from game to game, there's two routes I could go - The first is to play out the plan I've thought about so many times previously, to align the choices I make with that plan as faithfully as the random elements allow. The second, is to completely ditch whatever was in my plan, look at the random…

Great comment! I drew the same analogy from hold'em poker.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#64

Post by listic »

Xixi wrote: post #26

I adopted a similar strategy for Tomotcha: we pick/sell only one tea each month. Most of our competitors send several samples each month, and from a revenue point of view maybe it's better, but I like the ability to give focus to a single tea. For instance our next shipment is a Genmaicha: it's a combination of green tealeaves and roasted brown rice. The first time I drank Genmaicha I didn't like it much, because it'…

If I like a particular tea, do you allow me to buy it again, afterwards? It would be reasonable, I think.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#65

Post by njharman »

This is "sell a lifestyle / experience" model like Starbucks and to some degree Apple.

A model, although very successful, I abhor. It purports that you can "buy" happiness. It targets those so affluent and/or so bored that mere ownership of things is no longer enough to make them feel special.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#66

Post by CydeWeys »

Captain_Usher wrote: post #44
jacalata wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is the decision to do software because the moneys there not playing to the board?

The difference is whether the decision is based on where the money is today or where the money's been historically. The board game analogy is pretty apt. In The Settlers of Catan, players compete to reach 10 Victory Points by developing a robust and healthy colony. Settlements are worth one VP each, and upgrading one to a city makes it worth two. The city also pays out double resources, and it's relatively difficult…

Catan very much requires "playing to luck", and I wonder how that fits into the rest of the analogy. Sure, there's an optimal strategy, but because of the resource discard rules on rolled 7s (the most common roll, of course), you very often have to make the purchase that you can. It's either that or not make a purchase at all and lose out to the discard.

"Playing to luck" is different than "playing to the board" in my book because it requires making probabilistic decisions that have no place in, say, Chess.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#67

Post by CydeWeys »

meric wrote: post #2

When playing a board game, like Terra Mystica, where there are choices I can make, and there are random elements that change from game to game, there's two routes I could go - The first is to play out the plan I've thought about so many times previously, to align the choices I make with that plan as faithfully as the random elements allow. The second, is to completely ditch whatever was in my plan, look at the random…

> Where 30 years ago operating a successful physical bookshop might mean having a large selection available at any time, and frequent events to draw crowds, today, in competition with digital books, operating a successful physical bookshop might mean emphasising the advantages of the physical book, the romanticism attached to physical objects.

This isn't an accurate description of the current bookselling climate. Two counter-points:

http://fortune.com/2015/09/23/e-books-digital-publishing/

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2015/12/barn...

Digital e-book sales are on a sharp decline now, and normal booksellers are stabilizing.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#68

Post by CydeWeys »

lucaspiller wrote: post #40
xixixao wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This Christmas reminded me that as long as there are people like me, who leave shopping for presents to the last minute, physical stores with large stock aren't going anywhere. But I am definitely waiting for the moment when physical stores turn into a purely advertising space, and draw their revenue from there. In a very near future you might not be able to buy things at a store, you will only be able to look at and…

> Clothes are an exception here If I could buy all my clothes online I would. The problem is sizes are at best a rough guid - different brands and even different styles in the same brand, fit completely differently. I guess I could find one outfit that fits and then just buy that online when I need a replacement :)

The problem could easily be solved by industry-wide standardization. Make a set of reference models (hell, NIST could do it), and sell clothes as being designed to be worn on a given reference model. Then you'd simply find your closest fit, and buy clothes for that one. There's some precedent here in shoes with the use of lasts of a given size. I bought dress shoes online recently that fit perfectly, never having tried them on in person, and I was able to do that by looking up the information on the last it was sized on, and comparing that to another shoe that I did have and that I did know which size was correct for me.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#69

Post by eginhard »

keithpeter wrote: post #49

The room looks like an art gallery as others have commented. I can remember seeing displays of the catalogue for an exhibition in art galleries - a large array of a single book. The arithmetic implies some form of subsidy, and that room looks lovely. There is a street view here... http://www.takram.com/projects/a-single-room-with-a-single-b... ...looks to be an exercise in branding/design. I'm wondering if a communit…

It's also open between 1-8pm and, according to that link, events are organised every night, so building such a community seems to be a main part of the concept.

Re: Japanese Bookshop Stocks Only One Book at a Time

#70

Post by CydeWeys »

derefr wrote: post #22
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be a repeated theme [that I'm noticing] at present which to my mind hints at a particular flaw in capitalist society - that we end up paying for things by proxy. You want a curated suggestion for what to read but instead of paying for a curator to make those suggestions you pay for a book that poorly hints at the worth that you've received from the curators effort. Or you want a particular piece of soft…

I think you're right, but I don't think in this case there's as much of an impedance-mismatch as in those other cases. While I might say "book gallery", the real description of the place might as well be "curator's service with a storefront serving as street-visible advertising." That the curator happens to have copies of the books they will recommend you is just an obvious extra convenience to throw in, from their p…

> When e-books are free to pirate, basically all of the price you're paying for the book at a store (or a game on Steam, or a song on iTunes) is in appreciation of the value—including the convenience—of the curation service.

I disagree. Pirating a book is not a replacement for owning a physical copy of a book. Lots of people remain very attached to the physical embodiment of a novel, and are willing to pay for it like any other physical item sold in stores. It's like the impulse of vinyl collectors, but more mainstream.

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