Amazon's cutting of e-book prices is a good thing for consumers. But...
Here in Pasadena, there survive independent bricks and mortar book (Vroman's) and music (Canterbury's) stores. It is great to have them around, because browsing is fun. I spend more than I have to for books and cds because I want them to stick around (sort of like public radio, I guess).
Nevertheless, I have a Kindle, and I buy stuff from Amazon too, because of (1) convenience and (2) inventory. Vroman's is great, but it can't stock everything. When I want to read something, given the choice between waiting for a special order or waiting for some electrons to arrive, I will take the electrons. When I travel, I find that electrons are lot lighter than books too.
Hence it is not price that drives my purchasing decisions, but I am enough of an economist to know that prices drive the decisions of most others. If that price gap between Amazon and Vroman's grows even larger, I am not sure how Vroman's survives. Pasadena without Vroman's is not quite as nice a place as Pasadena with Vroman's.
Here in Pasadena, there survive independent bricks and mortar book (Vroman's) and music (Canterbury's) stores. It is great to have them around, because browsing is fun. I spend more than I have to for books and cds because I want them to stick around (sort of like public radio, I guess).
Nevertheless, I have a Kindle, and I buy stuff from Amazon too, because of (1) convenience and (2) inventory. Vroman's is great, but it can't stock everything. When I want to read something, given the choice between waiting for a special order or waiting for some electrons to arrive, I will take the electrons. When I travel, I find that electrons are lot lighter than books too.
Hence it is not price that drives my purchasing decisions, but I am enough of an economist to know that prices drive the decisions of most others. If that price gap between Amazon and Vroman's grows even larger, I am not sure how Vroman's survives. Pasadena without Vroman's is not quite as nice a place as Pasadena with Vroman's.
