I think there's plenty to criticize about Amazon Books, but this review misses the mark. Three stars.
1. The shopping mall is named University Village due to its proximity to the University of Washington.
2. This is how emails from recruiters on LinkedIn always work. There's nothing new here.
Cady received LinkedIn messages and an email.
It was very personal in tone, but ended with
a simple choice: a button to indicate whether
or not she was interested in the offer. “I
clicked not interested.”
3. It seems absolutely bizarre to me that this article fails to mention, even once, Seattle's best independent book store: Elliot Bay Book Company (http://www.elliottbaybook.com)
Hmmm I just assumed that the bookstore was a book-store wrapper around Amazon Lockers. The proximity to U-village denizens would make it a good place to put some.
I did not use the phrase Day One, but wondered whether the
staff, including presumably Walkie Talkie, had taken a
moment before opening that morning to reflect on Amazon’s
jargon, including that bit of eschatology.
There is a desk labelled Amazon Answers. Presumably the
questions asked of Amazon are answered by a human employee
of the store, though it’s unclear if some sort of Delphic
process involving candles and chanting occurs.
Books are not always arranged in a clear manner. On the
memoir wall Frederick Douglass abuts Anne Frank, herself
next to Ben Carson. Amazon is disrupting the alphabet.
RIP, alphabet.
The style bothered me as well, I could not tell if the was unconsciously projecting all of their internal conflict into the situation or if they were trying to write at a snark level that would be above the comprehension of some but not all readers. Either way it seemed the author was conflicted deeply about what they were trying to write (or perhaps not write)
The style reminded me a lot of the writing style of Fight Club: lots of anti-establishment bitterness seeping through observations of comical ironies. Probably also a reflection of the conflict between corporate Amazon and the cool kids who want to keep Seattle cool.
It's super smarmy, but pretty much par for the course for how TNR and other bastions of American literary tradition treat Amazon. They published an op-ed arguing that ordinary readers (as opposed to trained book reviewers) shouldn't be reviewing books.[0]
Strange. I went yesterday (had to do something while I waited for dumplings) and thought it was just an ordinary bookstore. What grabbed you so much that I missed?
I can't help but feel that the entire article is filled to the brim with bitterness. There's no objectivity to it and, instead of coming away with some negative opinion of Amazon's new store, I feel like I'm coming away with a negative view of the author and a willingness to give Amazon's store a shot.
I've been offline for a few days so... WTF? What's the reason for Amazon opening a brick and mortar? Tax avoidance? legal loopholes? I'm really puzzled..
If I had to put money down I'd say there are two motivations. First it's pure marketing. There are Apple and Microsoft stores in the same shopping center. Amazon is promoting its brand.
Second, perhaps more far-fetched and to me more interesting, it's a long play by a company famous for long plays. Amazon has predicted a future where they put most brick and mortar bookstores out of business, and recognized this future is not good if you want to sell books.
The anti-Amazon, anti-tech circlejerk is so strong right now in Seattle, especially by locals[1]. Search /r/seattle for "amazon" and behold.
[1]locals is a loosely defined term for anyone who was actually raised here (like myself) or who just happened to move here from Portland, SF, LA, or NY before about 2010
29 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 70.3 ms ] thread1. The shopping mall is named University Village due to its proximity to the University of Washington.
2. This is how emails from recruiters on LinkedIn always work. There's nothing new here.
3. It seems absolutely bizarre to me that this article fails to mention, even once, Seattle's best independent book store: Elliot Bay Book Company (http://www.elliottbaybook.com)[0] http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119875/margo-howard-amazo...
http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books
I'd find that hard to believe.
Second, perhaps more far-fetched and to me more interesting, it's a long play by a company famous for long plays. Amazon has predicted a future where they put most brick and mortar bookstores out of business, and recognized this future is not good if you want to sell books.
[1]locals is a loosely defined term for anyone who was actually raised here (like myself) or who just happened to move here from Portland, SF, LA, or NY before about 2010
http://publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookse...
It's more informative and less bitter.