7 ms·

As much as I hate to say this, but I hardly use physical bookstores anymore. Most of them are just as commercial as their online counterparts but with limited s

As much as I hate to say this, but I hardly use physical bookstores anymore. Most of them are just as commercial as their online counterparts but with limited space. And the limited space they have they mostly spend on stacks of the same shitty best-sellers with glowing reviews. The books I come for are hardly ever at hand, so I will have to order them, which is what I would do in an online bookstore anyway. Moreover, I am switching to ebooks more and more. Less to drag around when I move house. I will make a big exception for second-hand bookstores though. The character of a second-hand shop is very hard to replicate online, as is the opportunity for serendipity. Every online shop has a search function that beats the life out of chance finds. In a second-hand shop you may happen upon a book that has been sitting on a shelf for years (maybe even misplaced) waiting just for you. I cannot resist that siren call. I visited the US last year. In a charming little second-hand bookstore (including a grumpy owner) in Flagstaff I chanced upon the collected works of Carol Shields. I had never heard of her but she may well turn out to be a literary love for life. Thank you, grumpy owner.

jurassic 6y ago
The main value I get from the physical bookstores I love is the curation aspect. Kepler's Books in Menlo Park is an example of a place doing this well. I suppose this could be done digitally as well, but so far Amazon seems more focused on having every product on earth and using "you might be interested in" algorithmic recommendations than hand curating selections with a point of view. I think the low visual density of an online shopping page vs an in-store display is part of the challenge in replicating that experience.
pj_mukh 6y ago
I was recently thinking about a digital experience that can mirror the experience of walking into an old bookstore (think, City Lights or Strand) or a second-hand book store, and came up empty. Walking into a room guaranteed to be filled with treasures, joys and learnings, what digital experience can mirror that?
- d0m 6y ago
  Yeah, that's something I was discussing with a friend too. Would be great to be able to shop fresh food online in a way that's more similar to how we do it in a physical store.
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  The closest way I suspect that the equivalent would unfortunately require all books to be fully loaded for free as a prerequisite essentially as to get the experience the data must be there. Even then such a VR bookstore while overkill and somewht immersive it would still be distinguishable. Really it is like life of an individual person I suppose. There will be many more like them, tbose that echo them but an exact duplicate reoccuring is impossible because the world changes around them. It won't lack for similar treasures, joys, and learning but it won't be the same.
everdrive 6y ago
Used bookstores tend to be very, very good. You can find all sorts of amazing gems in there you'd have never thought to search for via a web interface. Even better, they tend not to be packed with the bestseller of the day.
drfuchs 6y ago
Best grumpy-used-book-store-owner experience ever: A friend and I went into an exceedingly cramped used book store in SF years ago, each looking for a particular title. Books were on shelves and also stacked in piles scattered along the two narrow aisles. There were a few labeled "sections", but within a section, everything was random. There was one other customer, my friend, and me, all tripping over one-another, looking for our books. Owner, from the front register, in a rather annoyed voice: "You know, you should call ahead, so I can tell you if we have your title, and have it ready for you when you come. We don't have room for customers to be rummaging around." So, we accepted defeat, and as we went to leave, the store phone rang, and the owner picked up. After a beat, and as I was stepping out the door, I heard the owner grumpily responding to the caller: "How should I know? I can't keep track of all the books here; you have to come in and look for it yourself..."
- rbobby 6y ago
  Very discworldian.
- 8bitsrule 6y ago
  Similar story, different outcome: long ago I went into a used bookstore housed in an old firestation (now a theatre). It had many books shelved on its first floor, but the second floor was an acre of heaps. Its owner was a grey-haired and bearded, gruffish old-school book dealer. I was looking for an obscure French novel which was (I did not know) unlikely to be found anywhere, then or now. After quickly trying my luck and utterly failing, I asked about it by author and title. Melvin looked down, shuffled a bit, then said he'd have a look. Upstairs around the firepole he trudged. Five minutes of bumping, ten minutes of shuffling, and down the stairs he came holding it. "It's a little dusty," he offered. I'd pay a sizeable sum to be able to relive that moment.
  - moonchild 6y ago
    What book?
  - wazoox 6y ago
    I had the same experience about 30 years ago. A very old man (more than 80) had a used book store with 5 meters high shelves and stacks and piles and heaps everywhere. I came in and asked "do you have the works of Antiphon, by any chance? The bilingual version?" "He think for a moment, "ah, do you mean the 1923 translation? I must have it somewhere up there..." And he went up a ladder, rummaged on some shelves, and came back with the old, uncut book, in the battered original edition. I've bought many, many books there for a while, particularly the rare (and expensive when new) "Guillaume Budé" books in their original, paper-cover, uncut editions (https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-budes https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-budes). Some very sad day, the guy died and the magic store closed forever.
petra 6y ago
If one wants serendipity online, maybe it's better to look for it at small independent sites, like whichbook.net.

jurassic 6y ago

The main value I get from the physical bookstores I love is the curation aspect. Kepler's Books in Menlo Park is an example of a place doing this well. I suppose this could be done digitally as well, but so far Amazon seems more focused on having every product on earth and using "you might be interested in" algorithmic recommendations than hand curating selections with a point of view. I think the low visual density of an online shopping page vs an in-store display is part of the challenge in replicating that experience.

pj_mukh 6y ago

I was recently thinking about a digital experience that can mirror the experience of walking into an old bookstore (think, City Lights or Strand) or a second-hand book store, and came up empty. Walking into a room guaranteed to be filled with treasures, joys and learnings, what digital experience can mirror that?

d0m 6y ago
Yeah, that's something I was discussing with a friend too. Would be great to be able to shop fresh food online in a way that's more similar to how we do it in a physical store.
Nasrudith 6y ago
The closest way I suspect that the equivalent would unfortunately require all books to be fully loaded for free as a prerequisite essentially as to get the experience the data must be there. Even then such a VR bookstore while overkill and somewht immersive it would still be distinguishable. Really it is like life of an individual person I suppose. There will be many more like them, tbose that echo them but an exact duplicate reoccuring is impossible because the world changes around them. It won't lack for similar treasures, joys, and learning but it won't be the same.

everdrive 6y ago

Used bookstores tend to be very, very good. You can find all sorts of amazing gems in there you'd have never thought to search for via a web interface. Even better, they tend not to be packed with the bestseller of the day.

drfuchs 6y ago

Best grumpy-used-book-store-owner experience ever: A friend and I went into an exceedingly cramped used book store in SF years ago, each looking for a particular title. Books were on shelves and also stacked in piles scattered along the two narrow aisles. There were a few labeled "sections", but within a section, everything was random. There was one other customer, my friend, and me, all tripping over one-another, looking for our books. Owner, from the front register, in a rather annoyed voice: "You know, you should call ahead, so I can tell you if we have your title, and have it ready for you when you come. We don't have room for customers to be rummaging around." So, we accepted defeat, and as we went to leave, the store phone rang, and the owner picked up. After a beat, and as I was stepping out the door, I heard the owner grumpily responding to the caller: "How should I know? I can't keep track of all the books here; you have to come in and look for it yourself..."

rbobby 6y ago
Very discworldian.
8bitsrule 6y ago
Similar story, different outcome: long ago I went into a used bookstore housed in an old firestation (now a theatre). It had many books shelved on its first floor, but the second floor was an acre of heaps. Its owner was a grey-haired and bearded, gruffish old-school book dealer. I was looking for an obscure French novel which was (I did not know) unlikely to be found anywhere, then or now. After quickly trying my luck and utterly failing, I asked about it by author and title. Melvin looked down, shuffled a bit, then said he'd have a look. Upstairs around the firepole he trudged. Five minutes of bumping, ten minutes of shuffling, and down the stairs he came holding it. "It's a little dusty," he offered. I'd pay a sizeable sum to be able to relive that moment.
- moonchild 6y ago
  What book?
- wazoox 6y ago
  I had the same experience about 30 years ago. A very old man (more than 80) had a used book store with 5 meters high shelves and stacks and piles and heaps everywhere. I came in and asked "do you have the works of Antiphon, by any chance? The bilingual version?" "He think for a moment, "ah, do you mean the 1923 translation? I must have it somewhere up there..." And he went up a ladder, rummaged on some shelves, and came back with the old, uncut book, in the battered original edition. I've bought many, many books there for a while, particularly the rare (and expensive when new) "Guillaume Budé" books in their original, paper-cover, uncut editions (https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-budes https://www.lesbelleslettres.com/les-budes). Some very sad day, the guy died and the magic store closed forever.

petra 6y ago

If one wants serendipity online, maybe it's better to look for it at small independent sites, like whichbook.net.