Borders closing = great cookbook deals

[danbuter]

They have all of their cookbooks on sale at 30% near me. I've picked up "Keys to Good Cooking" by Harold McGee. It's one of those books I always flipped through, but never bought. I will be checking out the store again this weekend, as many classics are there and much cheaper than cover price.

 

[roadfix]

Sign of the times. I used to go to my local Borders on Sat nites to listen to live music and have coffee at the lounge.
The two closest Borders to me have been closed for months.

 

[Kayelle]

I guess it's only a matter of time for Barnes and Noble. It's such a shame when the internet gobbles up employment for so many people.

 

[bakechef]

I think that Barnes and Noble was a little smarter. They jumped on the e-book bandwagon with the Nook, a very nice e-reader.

I can see Barnes and Noble stores getting smaller with e-books gaining popularity though.

The problem with the Border's stores is, just like every other liquidation, is now the stock is owned by liquidators and they set their own prices. Usually the discounts are not as good as they seem, this happened with Circuit City, discounts on jacked up prices.

 

[DaveSoMD]

I may take the drive up to the closest one and see what they have....I think this closing means the closest bookstore to me is now 1.5 hours away.

 

[Timothy]

Sign of the times.

It's such a shame when the internet gobbles up employment for so many people.

Hey Kayelle, eventually, Earth will be a global society. It has to happen before we, (the human "we"), can stop wasting so much of our resources and finally work together for our advancement as a species.

The Internet may be the largest single step towards this needed goal, in the history of mankind.

As roadfix said; "It's a sign of the times". Fighting it, or just not adapting to it, is like trying to make the sun not rise tomorrow morning.

A thousand years from now, the deed will be done. Humans will all be a nice medium tan color, speak the same language and not duplicate every single task we take on. We will have one unified leadership for the entire planet and that leadership will be forced to be honest by the people they lead.

What a wonderful concept. The bummer is that many more people will needlessly fall before it's accomplished.

 

[Kayelle]

Having said all that Timothy, try and make those lofty thoughts fly to our "here and now folks" without a paycheck. Just sayin'........

 

[DaveSoMD]

I still prefer a book over a laptop or Kindle... just something so tactile and comforting about a book.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Hey Kayelle, eventually, Earth will be a global society. It has to happen before we, (the human "we"), can stop wasting so much of our resources and finally work together for our advancement as a species.

The Internet may be the largest single step towards this needed goal, in the history of mankind.

As roadfix said; "It's a sign of the times". Fighting it, or just not adapting to it, is like trying to make the sun not rise tomorrow morning.

A thousand years from now, the deed will be done. Humans will all be a nice medium tan color, speak the same language and not duplicate every single task we take on. We will have one unified leadership for the entire planet and that leadership will be forced to be honest by the people they lead.

What a wonderful concept. The bummer is that many more people will needlessly fall before it's accomplished.

You have much more faith in humanity than I do. A thousand years ago people were at war. A thousand years before that people were at war. A thousand years before that people were at war. Technological advances only do so much and I just don't know that another thousand years will be enough to end that. Still worth shooting for, just wouldn't be surprised if we missed the target.

As for the internet and ecommerce, I find it bittersweet. There are opportunities available to people who wouldn't otherwise have them, but the loss of jobs is tragic, especially since jobs are already so scarce. A similar thing happened when robotics "invaded" factories and manufacturing. Yes we adapted, but I'm not sure we ever fully recovered. Technology is wonderful but I think we have a long way to go in figuring out how to utilize it responsibly and how to manage consequences of "progress" such as job loss.

 

[TATTRAT]

I still prefer a book over a laptop or Kindle... just something so tactile and comforting about a book.

Even the smell of a new book is comforting. I like my e-reader, and it serves it purpose, but I will never do away with books.

 

[Kayelle]

Wow........you said that so well, pag.

 

[danbuter]

1,000 years from now, the Earth will be a nuclear wasteland. I'm enjoying life now, and that definitely includes having real paper books.

 

[Andy M.]

You have much more faith in humanity than I do. A thousand years ago people were at war. A thousand years before that people were at war. A thousand years before that people were at war. Technological advances only do so much and I just don't know that another thousand years will be enough to end that. Still worth shooting for, just wouldn't be surprised if we missed the target.

As for the internet and ecommerce, I find it bittersweet. There are opportunities available to people who wouldn't otherwise have them, but the loss of jobs is tragic, especially since jobs are already so scarce. A similar thing happened when robotics "invaded" factories and manufacturing. Yes we adapted, but I'm not sure we ever fully recovered. Technology is wonderful but I think we have a long way to go in figuring out how to utilize it responsibly and how to manage consequences of "progress" such as job loss.

This is a pretty negative post. We are at war now as we were one, two and three thousand years ago. Yes, it seems to be the way of the world but it's not as if nothing good has been going on for the last three thousand years!

More people live healthier, longer and better educated lives under better conditions than ever before. With the development of national wealth and technology, it's natural for manufacturing jobs to be replaced by service jobs. During my life, the USA has gone from a primarily manufacturing based economy to a primarily service industry driven economy. It's economic conditions that makes or takes jobs more than technology.

For these changes to be productive, adaptation is necessary. If you spent your whole life making buggy whips and cars come along and replace horse and buggies, you can cry about technology putting you out of work or get a job in a car factory. I'm not saying these changes are without pain, just that they are a part of life.

I think most people would approve of eliminating smoking in this country altogether. A nice idea but if that happens, we had better make room for a 100,000 jobs lost in the tobacco industry.

 

[danbuter]

Service jobs pay less than half of what manufacturing jobs do. And when enough people are working service jobs, they can only buy less than half what they used to. So companies get less profits and either downsize to survive or go out of business. It's a very vicious cycle. The only people who profit are bankers and politicians.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Even the smell of a new book is comforting. I like my e-reader, and it serves it purpose, but I will never do away with books.

If I got rid of all my books I'd have to go out and buy insulation...as it is now, with all walls loaded with books, we stay really warm in the winter.

 

[danbuter]

I know I have way too many books, mostly fantasy and science fiction stuff. I've only recently gotten interested in cooking, so I plan on having a nice sized library in a year or two.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

This is a pretty negative post. We are at war now as we were one, two and three thousand years ago. Yes, it seems to be the way of the world but it's not as if nothing good has been going on for the last three thousand years!

More people live healthier, longer and better educated lives under better conditions than ever before. With the development of national wealth and technology, it's natural for manufacturing jobs to be replaced by service jobs. During my life, the USA has gone from a primarily manufacturing based economy to a primarily service industry driven economy. It's economic conditions that makes or takes jobs more than technology.

For these changes to be productive, adaptation is necessary. If you spent your whole life making buggy whips and cars come along and replace horse and buggies, you can cry about technology putting you out of work or get a job in a car factory. I'm not saying these changes are without pain, just that they are a part of life.

I think most people would approve of eliminating smoking in this country altogether. A nice idea but if that happens, we had better make room for a 100,000 jobs lost in the tobacco industry.

Apologies, it wasn't meant to be negative, more, seeing both sides of the coin. I really am sorry if it came across as completely pessimistic. I agree that people need to adapt as technology changes industry and the workplace, and I agree that a lot of good has come out of technology. I mean, I'm a computer science girl. I love programming, I love theoretical computing. I work as a network tech and do sys admin type work. Eventually I want to go back to school for biology and then go through grad school. Even more eventually I'd like to figure out a way to combine my technological knowledge with my scientific knowledge in a meaningful way, a way that can lead to a career using both of my intellectual loves. I just think that as a society we tend to get tunnel vision and only look at what technology can do for us. As a society we often seem to forget that part of our innovation should be focused on what people can do for us also. What sort of talents and skills do people have and how can those skills be utilized not only to provide people with employment, but also to better our world and improve our daily lives.

For instance, I was reading an article about the Borders closings and the author was wondering what the former employees could possibly do for employment. He mentioned that most people who worked at a book store did so because they love books and suggested that possible options for the people laid off could be something like a book consulting agency or a book suggestion job. A service where people who were looking for information about books or recommendations on books could go to find out information. Would it work? Is it a viable plan? I don't know, but I think it's in the right vein of thinking. The author was looking at the skill set of the workers and trying to figure out a new way for their knowledge to be utilized. I think this sort of thinking, this sort of innovation and discovery and experimentation is every bit as important to the advancement of our society as new technologies and sciences are.

As for the part about being at war since mankind came into existence, I did say that Timothy's view of the future was worth working toward. I will also admit that I have a hard time not being pessimistic that such a future will ever happen when myself and others I know stand out amongst our peers because we practice common courtesy. I've been singled out at work, at school, among friends, in restaurants by wait staff for being "special" or "really nice" be cause I said please and thank you, or held a door open long enough that it didn't slam shut in the face of the person behind me. That's just sad. That shouldn't make me stand out as special or really nice to others, that should make me normal. It's one of the things I like about this forum. I don't stand out if I practice a little common courtesy here because everyone tries to do that. I'm just normal. So maybe I just live in a town with a lot of rude people? But sometimes I have a hard time believing we'll ever get past all of the nonsense and fighting when it seems like so many people won't even practice a little common courtesy. Again though, I fully support the efforts of anyone working toward that goal and really do hope humanity is able to reach it.

And as for paper versus electronic books, I love electronic media but there will always be a special place in my heart for actual physical books. I wish I lived close enough to a Borders to take advantage of their closing out sales and wish the employee's luck in moving forward.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

One good thing about the kindle...no more paper cuts across the bridge of my nose when I fall asleep.

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

Hmm, if dad is Chief Longwind, what does that make me? Seriously, I'm getting to be just as bad as the old man!

 

[purple.alien.giraffe]

One good thing about the kindle...no more paper cuts across the bridge of my nose when I fall asleep.

Or waking up with a page stuck to my face because I drooled on it in my sleep.