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I’m not surprised Borders is closing. While I would not have said this a number of years ago, I can now. The technology is available to have e-books via a very cost-effective medium, resulting in brick-and-mortar bookstores becoming obsolete.
There needs to be some discussion on what “green” measure can be taken with all the physical books (p-books?) that are not selling in bookstores across the nation, and perhaps Borders can lead that discussion (since it is likely to have a large inventory remaining). Surely some useful purpose can be made of new and used books that sit on shelves collecting dust and taking up space, e.g., Use them to build homes or shelters for the needy in the U.S. and abroad or send them off to countries where technology is pre-dial-up and people are yearning to learn how to read.
In any case, the closure of Borders creates a vacuum for our social interaction, where many people used to enjoy a favorite pastime with a cup of coffee at the local bookstore. However, the upside is there is a diminishing interest in physical books, likely to result in less wasteful use of our precious natural resources – Trees (Paper Chase, by Ecology.com – Natural Resources and Sustainability)! Could it be that technology will actually take us back to enjoying and fellowship with nature? It will be interesting to see what fills the social gap as more and more bookstores begin to close their doors.
For more information on the demise of Borders in San Diego, see:
Borders bookstore in Mission Valley, one of the 399 Borders stores nationwide [began] the painful and final process of bankruptcy liquidation” (http://bit.ly/Sign_on_… 07.22.2011).
