The Disappearance of Barnes N' Noble

First it was Waldenbooks, then it was Borders. After Borders closed down from the King of Prussia Mall, I used to go with my dad to Barnes N' Noble. The last time I went the bookstore in the mall was when there was a huge sale because the store was closing down. I can't remember when was the last time I've been to the bookstore. Increasingly, I feel that visiting bookstores may be a thing of the past.

I bought The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo in CVS. Then I bought Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in Walmart (which has now converted to a Super Walmart). There was a time in freshman year, when I went to the bookstore to go look for a book from the summer reading list. I don't remember which bookstore it was. It doesn't matter. The most important thing is that it's out of business. Now, I mostly buy books, academic and recreational, in Amazon. If the prices are similar to the college bookstore (due to the $3.99 in shipping), I go to the college but to me that doesn't count.

I still like physical books more than virtual ones, although I know there is a huge convenience to having hundreds of book stored on a smartphone or tablet especially when you are moving from one place to another.There is also the fact that if you look on-line, you may get lucky and find a pdf version for free. No waste in paper, no shipping fees, or download fees although you'll have to be careful you're not downloading malware. I downloaded the last two books of the Hunger Games series on the first generation Kindle (It's only worth a few dollars if you attempt to trade it in for a newer version). Bookstores aren't going to disappear anytime soon (I was shocked to discover Blockbuster is still around). There is a sense of permanence of having a physical book in your hand as to a virtual one floating around in the Internet cloud. Maybe like KMart, Blockbuster and various printed newspapers, bookstores are going to linger around but like any company in history (Strawbridges, anyone?), physical bookstores will morph into a nostalgic memory.