The long tail concept made complete sense to me this week. Amazon would make their most money selling books from niche markets. If I am looking for a specific book, I usually head to Amazon, not to my local bookstore. I do love bookstores, but I know that they will not have it and will probably have to order it. I know that I personally can't be bothered to drag myself to the bookstore just to be told I could have done the same thing online at home. So what does that mean for the future of bookstores? Well, look at Borders. I had a Borders five minutes from my house and just before I left to come to Australia it closed its doors. I honestly didn't know why until we discussed the topic in class. Maybe Borders should have been paying attention to the technology more and created something that would have given them a chance at survival. Barnes and Noble at least has the Nook.
E-Readers are extremely handy to have, and I know many people that love them. I also know many people that hate them and want to feel a solid book in their hands. I personally think that e-readers are awesome, but they bring up the topic of media convergence again. The new e-readers can browse the web now and some even have pop-up advertisements. Is it a good thing to converge the two together or should the e-reader be simply for just books?
It's funny how this topic makes you realize how lazy you really are, the whole online vs going there. I guess we really are becoming so used to the internet being our portal to life, that we forget theres physical stuff aorund us, i.e shops to browse.
ReplyDeleteI feel guilty for shopping online now :/
When comparing this to the music industry, where many people realise that their illegal downloading is causing a huge shift in the music business, it is sad to see that the same thing is not happening to authors. Many people do go out and buy their favourite artist's CD's to support them but do people do that for books? Is it our fault that Angus & Robertson have closed? Have we been too short sighted and wanted only what is cheaper? It's definitely something to think about.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the traditional model won't disappear completely but will just work in unison with newer business models as was mentioned in lecture today. But I guess some of the big book stores have to make way for some of the online business. Perhaps a smaller, more quirky, niche orientated bookstore would survive, maybe it's just the mass/blockbuster type bookstores that we don't feel really cater to our individual tastes anymore now that we've experienced a more customised product.
ReplyDeleteI still like reading a physical book, but I like the combination and choice of having both the online and the physical. Maybe the physical will still be there kind of taking an 'augmented' role!
I am the old fashioned one.. I love having a hard copy of the book in my hands. Staring at a screen to read a book.. na huh! Not for me.
ReplyDeleteIn saying this I am also not a big online shopper. I enjoy the experience of going to the shop to purchase my items. In saying this I am usually one of those 'niche markets' as I spend time going to book stores to find the one that has the book I am after or I will order it in. But seriously how distracting having the ability to browse the internet whilst reading a book. I tend to read alot over summer at the beach or while laying in the sun. I don't want to have the access to the internet nor do I want to leave my valuable e-book/ reader thingo in my bag unattended on the beach free for theives to steal.. I say e-books should just be for books only!
I am sure that one day I will conform to the e-books but for now ill stick to the hard copies while they still exist!
I agree with Apollo 8, I don't think that the traditional model of book buying will completely disappear. A personally love buying books from bookstores, and it is very hard for me to walk past a second hand bookstore and not go in and buy something. I do however you the book depository to order books that I cant find or are much cheaper. I also love the idea of the e reader, sure i love holding a book when i read it but i also travel a lot and read a lot so its good to be able to carry something small and light and not have to carry heavy books around
ReplyDeleteI think we are witnessing the slow death of book, music and game retail stores. These items are all too easy to purchase online. The only stores that will remain will be the ones that carry items you need to try before you buy e.g. clothes, shoes, etc. That being said, i'm sure the internet will find a way to kill them too.
ReplyDeleteI had not heard the idea of the long tail before Ted's class, and it also made lots of sense to me. The idea of the niche market has always interested me, that combined with the internet brings the idea of "Mass niche markets". Where we have all of the niche markets warped up into one website, far bigger then any one walk in store. I wonder if this trend will blend over into other forms of shopping. I know some places in the states have a grocery deliver service where you order online and they show up at your door. What will this do to society?
ReplyDeleteAs for you idea of people who hate E-readers, i hate staring at a screen for long periods of time, after about 5 mins of reading my eyes seriously start to hurt.
Good post
I too hadn't heard of the long tail before Ted's class....
ReplyDeleteI refuse to conform to E-readers. I still enjoy walking up King St in Newtown on the weekends and visiting second hand book shops!
I'm with Elise on this, as much as I love the idea of having hundreds of books at the touch of a button, I love the feeling and smell (is that weird?) of a big heavy book.
ReplyDeleteI also do not online shop for clothing as I like knowing how it looks on me before I purchase. I do however buy electronics such as my camera online. The online stores make things like this so much cheaper than store front shops!
I also love 'window shopping' the online stores as they have such a huge variety of alternative products that mainstream sore fronts just would not have the room to stock.
It will be interesting to watch just how many things become online in the future.