Barnes & Noble: Epic Book Fail

For Christmas, I got a gift card to Barnes & Noble. I appreciate this, because I love books. I've been interested in doing some studying about what the Bible says about things, then developing a set of opinions for politics, economics, et cetera. That seems like the proper order of things.

But I digress.

The massive chain bookstores have replaced local booksellers because, somehow, they are cheaper than the local variety. I have no idea how this is true, because Barnes & Noble is the most ridiculously expensive bookstore in the world. I found a book I wanted to get, but it was $40.00. I looked it up on Amazon.com, and the exact same book was $26.99. Barnes & Noble doesn't do price matching.

So what do I do? I've got this stupid gift card that limits my spending options to one place, so I'm stuck paying too much for a book. I bought some coffee, picked up a collection of Dilbert comics, and left. In the future, I'll just be going to Barnes & Noble to drink coffee and read the books that I bought more cheaply at Amazon.com (or, more likely, something in my Kindle that I bought online for way cheaper than anything in the store).

Seriously, how can a bookseller justify being so expensive? And why don't more people shop at Amazon.com?

Digital Literature

I'm a book guy. The best gift that ANYONE, ANYTIME, can get me, is books. Or, better yet, a gift card to Amazon.com, so I can buy my own books. I love to read, I love to have books, I love to smell books. I dream of reaching a point in my life that I can have a room, a big room, with bookshelves on all the walls, from floor to ceiling, a desk, comfortable chairs, and plenty of good lighting, that I can dedicate to reading, studying, and writing. That's my dream. I love books.

At one point, I didn't like the idea of digital literature, whether it be in the form of books online to read at a computer or the new digital readers from Sony, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. But, I've reconsidered, and I think I want a Kindle.

I say all that to introduce the topic of digital literature. There was a segment today on the Diane Rehm Show about the digitizing of books and the growing popularity of the eReaders. They offer great ease, especially for someone who has several books they want access to at a time - the Amazon Kindle, for instance, can hold about 15,000 books on it. I'm thinking college textbooks. How great would it be to not have to lug books to all your classes, but download a digital version instead?

Also, I wonder, will there be a development similar to the iTunes movie rental program, where you can "rent" the book for a month or so and then have it removed at the end of that period of time. I think these could be great steps in advancing eReading platforms.

And, Mom, I want an Amazon Kindle for Christmas.