Here’s a lesson for you, kids. Just STFU or this can be you!
May 19, 2012: Waterstones boss poised to join the e-reader battle
Far from it. “I’m selling reading,” says Daunt, who shares my view that, from many perspectives, this is a golden age for the consumer. “We have to insinuate ourselves into the process, and we have to be seamless.” On closer examination, “seamless” turns out to mean persuading Waterstones customers to choose an e-reader (and ebooks) through a Waterstones-sponsored device. Daunt won’t say when this will happen – “it’s the bit we have to get right” – but it’s imminent. “We’ll be different from Amazon,” he says, with characteristic ebullience, “and we’ll be better.”
Boldfaced emphasis added by me.
Today, May 21, 2012, two days later: Waterstones to sell Amazon’s Kindle book reader
In a statement, James Daunt, managing director of Waterstones, said: “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a curated bookshop.”
Boldfaced emphasis added by me.
So that’s how you’ll be “better”? Surrendering to the Kindle and turning your stores into a book showroom?
Ah, “winners”!
Next!
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