Amazon is Not a Bookstore

Do you go into Amazon Bookstores? No. Can you meet an author and have him or her sign your book at Amazon? No. Are there community activities at Amazon? No. Does Amazon give back to your community by hosting Public School Book Fairs and other events? No. At Amazon, can you sit down in a comfortable chair and read a potential buy in their store? No. Can you buy coffee and talk to friends in their cafe? No.

So what is Amazon? It’s merely a website that sells cheap books, and other assorted things. It’s impersonal, far away, and lacks aesthetic appeal, the kind of appeal you would get from a book store.

Your local independent bookstore, used bookstore, and larger sellers such as Barnes & Noble provide all these things for your community. While I do not hate (nor even dislike) Amazon, I do think they are harmful in the various ways listed above to our communities. Amazon is the Wal-Mart of the internet without the employees, service, and building. Eventually, if Amazon gets its way, which Amazon has been doing, we will no longer have bookstore that sell new books. Mark my words, it will happen sooner rather than later.