Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for January 14, 2018

Fred should’ve invested in an app.

sure is hard to keep up with the technological times

At least they’re reading. People that don’t read are the main reason bookstores are going away.

Once again, the Invisible Hand has given someone the finger.

If local book shops want me to buy books from me than they should 1) stock copies of the books in my, admittedly esoteric, taste range, and 2) be cheaper than it costs to order from overseas.

I haven’t been in a book store since Border’s was shut down. Outside of collectors’ book stores I doubt there are any others in this county. Similarly, one has to go over to the next county to find a sparsely stocked hobby shop. Consequently I buy most supplies online now.

It’s sad that even when bookshops aren’t shutting down it’s the big chains rather than small independent bookshops

I bought a car part on line Friday with paypal. 6pm Friday a call came from card people saying my card was used for a Lyft in San Francisco. This online buying does have risks. This fraud is my second with online.

Try Barnes & Noble

The glories of the local bookstore are vastly overrated. Even before the rise of Amazon, I was having to place special orders or order straight from publishers for most of the books I want.

I read a lot of real books but ordering up an ebook for my kindle is so easy. On the bright side for book lovers sales of real books is holding steady, I hear.

I have an Autographed Copy of “Pearls Gets Sacrificed” as well as ALL the other “Pearls” treasuries from Barnes and Noble in Knoxville. Thank you for still being there!

The last three times I went into a brick and mortar bookstore looking for a specific title, what I was looking for was not in stock. Admittedly, my tastes are out of the mainstream, but I never have a problem finding what I am looking for at Amazon.

Interesting. All the comments up to this point seem to deal with the pros and cons of the demise of bookstores. I see the point of the toon as being they shop online for convenience and price and then when they need/want service they head to the now defunct brick and mortar store that died because they shopped price!

Use it or lose it.

I live in an area with an abundance of used book stores. Great place to while away the time browsing.

Interesting. With the lead-up, I was expecting a pun.

For people who don’t read or buy books at an old bookstore with stacks, I feel profoundly sorry.

I’ve accumulated a lot of E-Books in the last few years, many of them free. Yes, I’d rather hold a “real” paper book, but I’m running out of shelf space around here. For the few print books I buy, the prices and selection do tend to be lower online. And even for used books, there are a number of web sites, with bigger selections than most stores, because they don’t rely on just one store. If you need suggestions for “just the right book on…” there are plenty of readers forums on-line. And of course, most towns still have libraries. Ours isn’t that great on its own, but it’s part of an excellent state inter-library loan system.

And all that said, none of it quite matches going through a well stocked bookstore when you don’t know what you want. Particularly quirky used book stores where the anticipation of buried treasure is renewed every time you move on to the next shelf.

Oh, and about that web site that sells books and almost everything else, our local K-Mart and a local office supplies chain store both closed in December.

I suppose this is why brick and mortar bookstores and public libraries have to be more than about selling books. They are an environment where people can sit down, enjoy coffee, attended events, and actually interact with human beings rather than just point and click.

Both of my grandkids have shelves of books, literally hundreds, and are voracious readers. Of course they enjoy their videos and family movies, too.

There’s a web site for this, too.

Were ya born in a barnes and noble?

Wait a minute.. he buys clothes on line? He doesn’t even wear clothes.

Wait a minute.. he buys clothes on line? He doesn’t even wear clothes.

Wait a minute.. he buys clothes on line? He doesn’t even wear clothes.

Wait a minute.. he buys clothes on line? He doesn’t even wear clothes.

SAD SAD SAD. I remember back in the 1900s when I used to get my COMICS in a newspaper. I have to get that online now, too.

SAD SAD SAD. I remember back in the 1900s when I used to get my COMICS in a newspaper. I have to get that online now, too.

I have 2 wonderful used book stores near me that I frequent. I do prefer an actual book printed on paper. I can’t usually afford brand new books. For the very few brand new ones I purchase, yes, I do use Amazon.I no longer have a “new book” bookstore near me. I did just get Fire and Fury as a E-book since it was the least expensive format, and I wanted to read it right away.

Amazon is still useful for SOME things. I just checked and found that the DVD of “Dr. Who – Twice Upon a Time” will be released on Feb. 13. So NOW I know when I can go to the local record and DVD store to buy a copy!

I thought this was going to be one of those strips that ends in a pun.

This doesn’t apply only to books. The best tennis shop in town closed because the owner couldn’t compete with online sites.

Wait. What if this really means we all hate shopping? I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t miss the mall.

he should have tried an adult book store.

This strip touches a nerve, as I had to close my business [office equipment & supplies] after 11 years because I could no longer compete with online vendors. All sorts of internet dealers were selling items to end users for less than my cost to obtain them from reputable vendors. To be fair, anyone should have the freedom to market their product, either online or in a B&M store. But the lack of regulation on the internet allows so many vendors to sell knock-off products and operate above the laws and taxes that B&M’s have to contend with. Many people do not stop to think that when a store like Fred’s closes, jobs are lost. Which means there are fewer customers now to come and patronize Rat’s business [whatever that may be]. It’s another circle of life. I wonder how many people who use the internet to make a purchase really recognize or think about the trickle-down effect and how their own income will be impacted in the long term.

And then there is the ever growing list of trades & businesses that have been decimated or completely destroyed by the internet:Recording industry – and by extension record stores, CD manufacturers, advertising companiesMotion Picture industry – including video rental stores, DVD sales, theaters, cable televisionPublishing industry – when and where was the last time you saw or read a hard copy of Time magazine, or Newsweek? Or even a paper copy of a newspaper? As mentioned above,book stores like Borders and Fred’s have disappearedRetail stores – Sears, KMart, Wards, Mervyn’s, Radio Shack…..the list goes on and on. All gone because of online shopping and phone appsService industry – everything from mechanics to plumbers to carpenters. All these “helpful” people out there posting videos on YouTube showing how to “do-it-yourself”. Granted it saves you the homeowner money, but it cost’s the job and income of someone who may have been a customer at your business

When you take time to think about it……the list is endless

This strip let me down — I thought it was going to be one of Pastis’ shaggy dog stories.

Barnes n Noble is as close as most people in the U.S.( including myself) can get to a local book store.

There is nothing like the smell of thousands upon thousands old (and new) books. You don’t have that experience with online.

And with a bookstore you go to a specialty section and interact with other people who have your same interests and actually discuss the subject matter which may lead you to other books you wouldn’t have discovered on a web page. 5 or 10 minutes talking with someone is more fulfilling than a reading recommendations on a screen.

Convenience with online is great but it doesn’t substitute for the human experience.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Where zeeba neighba??

I’ve only ever bought one thing online which was £99.

But the rest of the time we don’t do our shopping online.

xxx

As Chromosome said up above, some brick-and-mortar stores are thriving in their niches. When I was spending time in Europe, I found one such specialized book shop in the city which was and is amazing in its targetted range. And here in the U.S. I’ve seen a combined coffee and used book shop that is great. But the big chains are dwindling, and Chicago’s most celebrated big bookstore Downtown (and in its heyday with several suburban branches) that I used to visit as often as possible (and buy as much as I could afford) shuttered some years ago. Now, ironically, I tend to find pb fiction books most often in the airport bookshops!

Where the horrible pun?

Perhaps Fred would have been more successful if his bookshop wasn’t in such a remote location out in the countryside.

I love bookstores! Usually because I want to find books that I don’t have yet from my favorite series of middle-grade chapter novels and comic strip collections. If one of my favorite bookstores close down, well… HOW DARE THEY!!!