Article: New Yorker long-form on Amazon and Publishing
DiscussionsBooks in 2025: The Future of the Book World
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From a recent New Yorker take-down of Amazon (ho-hum):
In the book industry, many of those formerly employed people staffed independent stores. Two decades ago, there were some four thousand in America, and many of them functioned as cultural centers where people browsed and exchanged ideas. Today, there are fewer than two thousand — although, with Borders dead and Barnes & Noble ailing, the indies are making a small comeback. Vivien Jennings, of Rainy Day Books, has been in business for thirty-eight years. “We know our customers, and the other independents are the same,” she said. “We know what they read better than any recommendation engine.” (Emphasis mine.)
The article is actually quite interesting, in depicting an overall sense of Amazon's business model and its place in the economy. But I post it here not to bash Amazon so much as highlight the statistic. Anyone have any benchmark or comparison? No citation for the figures used.
ETA link to article
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_packer?currentPage=1
In the book industry, many of those formerly employed people staffed independent stores. Two decades ago, there were some four thousand in America, and many of them functioned as cultural centers where people browsed and exchanged ideas. Today, there are fewer than two thousand — although, with Borders dead and Barnes & Noble ailing, the indies are making a small comeback. Vivien Jennings, of Rainy Day Books, has been in business for thirty-eight years. “We know our customers, and the other independents are the same,” she said. “We know what they read better than any recommendation engine.” (Emphasis mine.)
The article is actually quite interesting, in depicting an overall sense of Amazon's business model and its place in the economy. But I post it here not to bash Amazon so much as highlight the statistic. Anyone have any benchmark or comparison? No citation for the figures used.
ETA link to article
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/02/17/140217fa_fact_packer?currentPage=1
