From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2016 14:57:51 -0700

Starting in my own condo building but encouraged by the New York Times

(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/realestate/the-doormans-dilemma-what-to-do-with-all-those-packages.html?emc=eta1)

I observe a national trend in package room crises.  Too many boxes
being delivered to residences and even offices and no place to put
them.  (If you live in an apartment building and they accept your
packages for you, look to see where they are stashing them:  it can
get ugly.)

So then Amazon appears.  Amazon lockers and now a growing stream I've
seen mentioned on other lists of Amazon "stores" esp. on campuses:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/01/15/amazon-opens-new-store-on-uc-berkeley-campus/

The campus issue seems particularly to be that students don't care
about their US Mail any more and are happy to walk a good ways to a
central location to pick that up, but they too want their packages
where they live.

So there's Mr. Amazon, looking to solve the problem.  The "stores"
don't stock merchandise in the traditional way and are indeed more
package pickup with a little customer service.  Nose of camel under
tent?  Well, leaving aside the contracts many campuses have with the
one or two big vendors left in the "bookstore" business but that
Amazon could work to supplant, when would we decide that Amazon
print-on-demand is a better solution to need-it-now than ILL? Some of
the time?  Lots of the time?  How much camel will wind up inside the
tent?

Jim O'Donnell
Arizona State University