This major book vendor is now taking strides to create a "third place" in American Society. Since I have returned Barnes & Noble has taken two major steps. They released the Nook, a paperless, lightless, book reader and they have begun to provide free wireless internet in their stores. They also have a café with Starbucks coffee, some nice teas and a few sandwich items. This changes the entire character of bookstores because now they are a legitimate place to go and study/work and you don't even need to buy one of these things people used to read called books. The Nook, Barnes & Noble new eReader offers access to over 1 million eBooks as well as access to Google Books' collection of digitized materials. What's more one can upload their own PDF files allowing you to take Academic Journal articles on the go!
Still my criticisms of Barnes & Noble is the lack of intimacy. Ray Oldenburg argues that one of the reasons American needs a "third place" is simply to have somewhere that everyone knows your name. I don't know anyone here but everyone seems to be in and out and primarily to themselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment