Again via Artsjournal.com from The Guardian:
"They might not be ditching the traditional shop, but the suggestion that booksellers would crumble under the challenge of the internet has been utterly refuted. Instead of becoming a footnote in bookselling history, the industry has used the web to secure its future. And the resulting competition between the main players means that, right now at least, the second-hand book field really is a buyer's market."
(I know it's bad form to say "told you so," but just am unable to resist noting that in 1998 I published a magazine article analyzing charges that Amazon.com would put bookshops out of business, called "Turmoil in the Book World." It concluded the internet was good for the publishing industry, and that Amazon.com would stimulate book sales. Unfortunately, the full text is not available free online, so I can't link to it.)
