Don't Knock Big Bookstore Chains

This is a random comment not related to anything recent in particular, just something I want to address, namely, criticism of big bookstore chains. When it comes to bookstores, many criticize big bookstore chains for having wiped out small bookstores.

To them, small bookstores were "good" and big bookstore chains are bad. Well, I disagree with this view. In my opinion, small bookstores were cramped, under-stocked, and you were subject to the political leanings of the bookstore owner. What is so awful about a chain? You can go in, sit down and read through a book, and drink a coffee and eat something while you're at it. You also have access to so many books, of every political persuasion, everything from Jean Francois Revel to Jean Paul Sartre, from Ann Coulter and Sarah Palin to Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore.

It also seems an elitist view from many such critics, as if big bookstore chains are wrong because they allow the "masses" to read books. Such people seem to take the view that books are not something the general populace should be into at all, but only that a few "elites," such as them, should be into, and able to discuss. A good example of this was when Sarah Palin was asked by Katie Couric, "What do you read?" Disregarding that Palin unfortunately failed that question big-time, it nonetheless expresses the attitude of people of Couric's circle: middle-class Americans don't read (or aren't supposed to). Reading books is something for educated elites like them, and thus should only be in small bookstores that their little circle knows about, not something the masses partake in.

It also is probably just a generalized view that Big Business = bad and small business = good, thus big bookstore chains = bad and small bookstores = good. Which isn't true, one can find quality business and morals from Big Business and corrupt businesspeople in small business. And people can find Big Business run by greedy, corrupt no-goods, and small businesses run by decent people. It goes both ways.

Unfortunately, it seems the big bookstore chains in fact may be heading the way of the dodo, because the biggest ones, like Barnes & Nobles, just cannot keep up with competition from the likes of Amazon.com and eBooks. Why is this? Well, a few reasons (these observations gleaned from reading others opinions on the Internet, they are not my own):

1) Cost of the stores: Amazon has no physical bookstores to run, plus Barnes & Noble's stores are expensive to operate.

2) Books lend themselves so well to Internet commerce: You don't have to try a book on to see if it fits, or test it to make sure it works right. And books are almost impossible to be damaged in shipping.

3) Ebooks: A lot of people are just preferring to download books outright as opposed to buying the physical versions.

This thus may lead to the beloved Barnes & Nobles bookstores going extinct. I have read some say, "Well there are libraries, true, but libraries usually do not have the same atmosphere as bookstores, at least in my opinion. I will miss them greatly if they disappear.