I get frustrated when I go to a bookstore and they say they have the book at every location except for the one I’m standing at.
I don’t like paying for shipping (or paying a subscription to not pay for shipping).
But have you seen the Espresso Book Machine? It launched on Friday at a Blackwell’s bookstore. You type in which book you want, it binds a new copy while you drink a cup of coffee.
Insane.
Now you don’t have to worry about books being in stock, especially rare/old books.
What will really be interesting is to see how the employees of the 60 branches scheduled to get the machines adapt. Will people look for more recommendations now? Less? There will be less time walking the shelves, straightening titles and all that. What if the employees now had a set-up like an Apple Store Genius Bar?
