This is the question being posed in recent days as Borders and Angus and Robertson announced they were going into receivership, with the rising popularity of internet bookshops thought to be a major contributing factor.
Angus and Robertson Armidale franchisee Paul McManus told The Armidale Express that it would be "business as usual", because the A&R's franchising system offers protection to some extent.
Meanwhile, Dymocks is trying to take advantage of the situation by enticing Borders and A&R rewards card holders to transfer their allegiance. Those who are willing to surrender membership cards of the troubled chains will be given a Dymocks Booklovers card with 1000 points. See their website for details.
In other news, no doubt people in the US are preparing to camp outside Apple stores in anticipation of the release of iPad Mark II, expected out on March 2 (later in the year for Australia).
I've also been trying out Zinio, a site which allows you to buy digital copies of the latest magazines from all over the world. The software was a bit problematic to download, but seems to be working fine now.
I bought the March 2011 issue of InStyle UK, and although the pages are a little slow to load, it was easy to browse - helped by having a clickable contents page which takes you straight to the bits you want, and a zooming tool. All of this for AUD$5, and knowing that I'm not contributing to landfill or the dusty pile of old magazines in the corner of my room!
Do these developments signal the death of physical bookstores and hard copy texts? Consider this: no matter how hard you sniff your computer, you will not be able to get that new book smell or the whiff of perfume samples in your favourite magazine...
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