I still think that these truly interesting visions wouldn't save a bookshop. Apple Stores - mentioned in the article - were revolutionary because they were sell

I still think that these truly interesting visions wouldn't save a bookshop. Apple Stores - mentioned in the article - were revolutionary because they were selling electronics like nobody else ever did. They proved to be a long lasting success, so great that it actually shaped a big chunk of Apple public presence and perception by customers. So, I can probably envision a revolutionary approach to the bookshop by Barnes and Nobles or other big names in the industry of distribution, but I really can't see it working for a single, low capital independent bookshop. To run a place like that you still have to hire a lot of well motivated and dedicated people, though, and you need to invest A LOT in planning and building the actual shop. Then you'll have to turn a profit from a core business of selling goods at a very low margin, if you want to somehow be competitive with the ease of buying the same exact thing from Amazon or even other online retailers. Apple Stores still sell highly priced exclusive products with hefty margins, designed and produced by the very company that is selling that to you. That's a control over the complete customer experience that you'll never have for the majority of stores out there, let alone bookshops. What stops me from joining the experience of such an interactive bookshop to discover some new exciting title, just to purchase the book or ebook later at home from my device at a very steep discount? You can do the same with Apple products in the Apple Store - try the product live then buy it off of the Internet. Many people do that, but in the end you're still buying an Apple product and Apple is still turning a profit, thanks to its brick and mortar presence. Apple Store per-store revenues show that's not even a problem, though, since they're incredibly profitable on their own. The fact that Amazon is a fucking leviathan already would fit perfectly in the discourse, but I will let that out, since the whole bookshop 2.0 idea has its own flaws even without dragging Bezos and co. into consideration. P.s. I find it very amusing that my iPad changed Bezos to bozos automatically, even if that doesn't reflect my personal views on the Amazon founder.