Whitcoulls vs. the eBooks
Posted by Zeb in eBook, Kindle on Feb 18th, 2011 | 11 commentsSo maybe I should have already posted about my latest joy.
My new Kindle 3.
Love love love. I’ll post about it in the future, just felt that I had to say this now.
Whitcoulls & Borders in New Zealand are very likely going to be closing down. Why? Various reasons. The question I have is how much of that has to do with the competition they face from eBooks?
Kindles, Nooks, Sony Readers… so many variations, all do the same thing. Allow you to buy and download digital books to read on a device. Pros?
- Cheaper – don’t need to pay for all those pesky things like transport, paper, x amount mark-up etc.
- Faster – zomg! No waiting for books to arrive from overseas or local stores getting them in stock
- Good use of space – no more overflowing shelves of books, no more having to pack books away, all my books, on one portable device that I can carry with me
- I could keep going on and on and on… but I won’t…
Cons? Well really that sensation of holding a book. The smell, the texture, the nostalgia. You don’t get that with an eReader. As an avid book fan, it doesn’t bug me really. I will still purchase the books I absolutely and utterly love. I’ll still keep most of the books I own (not all the books in the world have been released in eBook format, yet.) I get to have the best of both worlds.
How can physical book stores like Whitcoulls and Borders compete?
Whitcoulls did make an attempt at it. Started selling eBooks from their website and bringing in the Kobo. Problem? They were selling eBooks practically at the same price as physical books. What’s the point? I would rather get a book cheaper elsewhere.
So while I will regret the loss of nostalgia. The experience of browsing through shelves, picking up a book, feeling it’s spine and gently cracking it open and inhaling that ‘new book’ scent, adios Whitcoulls.
You forgot one important thing with me. You forgot to think about my needs as your customer.
11 Responses to “ “Whitcoulls vs. the eBooks”
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I’m pretty concerned about the loss of Whitcoulls and Borders…it’s going to take books and reading even more out of NZ’s society…
When there’s not even stores to buy books from…the kids will question why the hell they should even read…
That’s a very good point. We’re already struggling with the literacy levels, and trying to get more people to start reading.
Another solution needs to be found to fix that problem, because unless someone buys up Whitcoulls and “saves the day” I see us stuck with the smaller stores that aren’t easily as accessible, and often even more expensive.
That being said, you never know. Some stores may close down, but not all. Maybe someone will buy them out? Fingers crossed in that regard.
p.s. do you know about Book Month and how all those vouchers are being given out? Would be cool to give those to the kids.
No doubt it doesn’t help that those who do prefer actual books to eBooks can usually buy them for a lot less money outside of NZ. For the last couple of years I’ve been buying mine from Book Depository, because even after importing from the UK, it works out much cheaper for me to do so. And then most online bookstores are bound to have a lot more variety than most physical stores in any case, especially those in NZ which are relatively small in the first place.
Ditto. I love Book Depository. I mean, how can you not? Free Worldwide Shipping!
And yup, online stores have a better selection. Local stores are just so… mainstream. If I want to get something that isn’t popular locally, I have to pay through the teeth for it.
You know that Amazon UK is offering Super Saver shipping to Australia and New Zealand if you spend 25 pounds and up? Bought a couple of french language learning books. Price difference?
NZ$200 buying the books from NZ
NZ$60 inc. shipping buying the books from Amazon UK
My first ebook purchases were books that I own, and I’ve bought other books that I’m just looking for a nice set to buy, rather than a random mix to get the set. I’m sure that ebook readers are having an impact, but I think that there will always be a place for physical books.
Personally, I went to A&R (the other Australian part of this) yesterday and looked for a book on baby sign language for my friend, and a particular novel, the selection was pathetic, and what was there was over priced. The thing which is stopping me buying books isn’t ebooks, it’s sheer cost.
I was saying to someone the other day, if I lived in the US, I wouldn’t be buying ebooks, because the prices are comparable to the physical books. But when they’re a third of the price of books here, and when a physical book (including postage) is half the price of a book here, I won’t buy anywhere near as many books here.
Cost is definitely a big one for me. Books are expensive here in New Zealand, more so than in Australia.
That and the selection we have here in NZ? Yeah… there is the true power of eBooks for me.
But while I will always love and adore physical books, I just don’t have the space for them anymore. I’d rather buy physical copies of books I know I’ll probably read over and over again. Books that have special meaning for me (The Princess Bride, The Last Unicorn, Fire Get and so on.)
For everything else? Don’t need the physical book unless there is a practical reason.
e.g. french language learning books. Part of my study routine is scribbling notes next to the text… and the Kindle isn’t quite the same.
I think the single biggest mistake they made was to sell their online business in 2008. I mean, really, how did they not see that internet purchasing was going to be valuable? It probably points to financial trouble back then I guess.
They can’t even pretend they can’t make money out of that, http://www.BookDepository.com must be making money, internet books is all they do, and at half the price I could buy them in NZ and free shipping from the UK. I get the whole “supporting local businesses” thing, but the Borders etc aren’t local, they are an American company, and I plain refuse to give them twice as much money as I need to for no additional value.
I too have a Kindle now and love it, but until they go back through the older books and make them electronic, there’ll still be a place for the old paper books for me (probably purchased from the book depository)!
Ah Michael, I think you must be psychic.
Agree agree and double agree with all you’ve said.
The thing about supporting local businesses is that you’ve got to know they’re supporting you too. What’s the point of buying from a store when you know they’re gauging you price-wise?
One local store I do support is http://www.bookzone.co.nz
These guys are purely online, but unlike the major online stores such as Fishpond, their prices are reasonable. They source direct from the US and the UK, so if you’re a cover-snob (like I can sometimes be) thats a good thing.
And yes… physical books will always have a place for me; more so because a lot of the older books won’t ever be released in eBook format (especially science fiction/fantasy books) and cause some books need to be tactile.
It’s just one of my many gifts Zeb, being psychic and, of course, eye candy!
I’ve had a look at some of the NZ based online stores, but they didn’t come close to beating the Book Depository, although I guess, being based in the UK, they can beat a NZ site, so long as they provide free shipping, which they do. Not brilliant if, like me, you want everything NOW, but if you don’t need it for a couple of weeks, it’s all good.
Being so NOW focused, I do so love the Kindle – the ability to search online (usually at Black Library, since I’m a mega Warhammer 40,000 nerd), see something that looks interesting and be reading it 30 seconds later – stupendous in my opinion, along with the word ‘stupendous’ now that I think of it, which is, for want of a better word, also stupendous.
Borders is closing & it is my fav bookstore in the US. I am sad to see it closing. Yeah, I have a Sony Pocket reader & I love it, but I mostly use it for my favorite books that I wind up having to re-buy because I wear the book out. But with Borders closing it is forcing me to re-evaluate my usage of the e-reader & start purchasing the books on it & using the library even more for the books. I refuse to shop at Barnes & Nobel *the other bookstore* since they kicked me out after spending three hours in the store even though I was going to buy the book I was reading.
I also have a problem with the older books. They either won’t be released or the authors refuse to let them. For example, Terry Goodkind is not budging on his Sword of Truth series. He doesn’t want the entire series on ebook. But other authors are agreeing to re-release their older books to e-books like Berterice Small. She is releasing them slowly, but surely.
Ah the eBook vs traditional book. An argument which pits the comfort of paper against the convenience of the back lit screen.
I can see the usefulness as applied to periodicals which are often discarded after use anyway.
Still I don’t know. I always thought that books, as the last vestige of the pre-digital era, existed so that we could get away from all the computers, screens and wires. Now it seems as if those books have become computers themselves.