As Stores Die, So Does Book Culture
Boston Globe - THE LIQUIDATION of Borders Books, announced last week, is like the death of an unlikely friend - unlikely because Borders was itself implicated in the slow-motion degradation of the culture of the book.
The story began in 1971, when brothers Tom and Louis Borders, students at the University of Michigan, established a book shop in Ann Arbor. They were among the first to grasp the potential of digital technology, inventing software that revolutionized how inventories were tracked. Borders became a book-selling powerhouse. The company proved insufficiently nimble, though, when online ordering - via Amazon or the Barnes & Noble website - transformed the point of sale, and digital files - via Kindle, Nook, or iPad - replaced paper publication entirely. The technology that made Borders boom ultimately killed it. Read more.
The story began in 1971, when brothers Tom and Louis Borders, students at the University of Michigan, established a book shop in Ann Arbor. They were among the first to grasp the potential of digital technology, inventing software that revolutionized how inventories were tracked. Borders became a book-selling powerhouse. The company proved insufficiently nimble, though, when online ordering - via Amazon or the Barnes & Noble website - transformed the point of sale, and digital files - via Kindle, Nook, or iPad - replaced paper publication entirely. The technology that made Borders boom ultimately killed it. Read more.
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