From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2014 16:43:50 -0500

I think the showroom idea may be a practical one.  I wrote about this a few
years ago:

http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2011/11/01/joes-metadatarium-creating-new-forms-of-discovery-in-the-bricks-and-mortar-world/

Embedded in the post is a link to a video, brought to my attention by Bob
Stein.  The video presents the showroom idea in a French setting.

The references to Kickstarter in the blog post, by the way, were tongue in
cheek.  Some people actually wrote me to say they wanted to pledge some
money!

Joe Esposito


On Sun, Dec 7, 2014 at 1:39 PM, LIBLICENSE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> From: Claudia Holland <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2014 19:51:49 +0000
>
> Interesting. I love what smaller family-owned bookstores used to offer―the
> smell of hundreds of books in one place (a “newer” smell than a library of
> books of all ages), the anticipation of spending time looking at and
> riffling through books I don’t normally purchase or those I intend to, the
> side-long glance to see what titles others are engrossed in (a little hard
> to do when it’s on a device), who’s looking at magazines rather than
> books, the personal banter with the owners and staff, and so on.
>
> I dislike the toys (I LIKE toys, just not in a bookstore), the smell of
> coffee (sorry, pet peeve), and the size and impersonality of bookstores
> now, but I still like to go. It’s just not as satisfying. I tend to enjoy
> my local public library more, now. I experience the spectrum of my
> community there, as well as the other things I mentioned.
>
> Do you think that one day bookstores will simply become “print showrooms”?
> That sounds so much like buying a car or going to a museum.
>
> Claudia
>
>
>
> On 12/4/14, 6:56 PM, "LIBLICENSE" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> >From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
> >Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2014 20:23:14 -0500
> >
> >I miss the overall experience of a public place, the browsing, the
> >occasional book-related conversations with people I don't know.  I
> >feel much the same wandering the stacks in a library.  I would be very
> >happy to live in a world where bookstores were ubiquitous, but all
> >purchases were made electronically.  So bookstores would be print
> >showrooms for ebooks.  But it's the public experience, the Third
> >Place, that is so compelling for me.
> >
> >Joe
>