We don't have B&N's problems

While reading my Yahoo! Webpage, I saw an article about Barnes & Noble's latest problem.
"The giant bookstore chain, whose superstores once struck fear into the hearts of independent booksellers everywhere, put itself up for sale this month...." This was the beginning of the article by James B. Stewart, a columnist for SmartMoney magazine, provided by The Wall Street Journal.
Stewart's hunch for the demise is "that B&N never really embraced the Internet or e-books, tied as it was to the old-fashioned world of physical books and stores." (Ow! that hurt! Kinda like Harry Potter's magic wand
shop.)
Stewart also admitted he likes "reading on the iPad, especially in bed at night and in other places where the device's back-lighting comes in handy. So far, it hasn't bothered my eyes at all, unlike the indistinct pages of the Kindle. But the Kindle is better outdoors." (My bound paper books have never given me a problem either. And I never have to worry about which book will be better
outdoors.)
Then he talked about being "confronted with a dizzying array of options," "information overload," and "being distracted by information I don't really need" with his iPad or Kindle. (I have to admit I have that problem with lovely bookstores, but it's a lovely problem I enjoy.)
Even though he said he couldn't say he missed physical books because his shelves were already groaning and he couldn't accommodate any more (ever hear about recycling and sharing in book clubs?), he did miss the bookstore he grew up with in the MidWest. (Ah! the truth is finally coming out.) And he wondered if B&N's decline could pave the way for the return of the independent bookseller. (That's something great to think about.)
He went on to talk about B&N stock and other stuff, but I got the jest of his article.
I signed with relief, knowing that we don't have B&N's problems. Now, I also know that many people think one day there will be no more libraries, no more physical (paper) books, that it will all be Internet, iPads, Kindles, etc. But you know what? I don't believe that, and I understand there are a great many others like me out there in the reading
world.
Maybe independent bookstores are slowly going out of business. Maybe. Maybe there are less books being printed and published. Maybe. And I may be one of those dinosaurs who refuse to give up my habit of reading these wonderful pieces of bound paper called a hardback or paperback book. Maybe.
After all, nothing stays the same. Changes are inevitable.
But we don't have B&N's problems. And I can't see it coming. We still have our huge book sale going on, and it's going very good! The used books are dwindling faster and faster, especially the children's hardback books. We still have lots of audios, a few children's videos, and a fair amount of juvenile fiction.
And today we have lots of free magazines: SmartMoney, Golf, Fashion, Time, Conde' Nast Portfolio, Fortune, Newsweek, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and Women's Health Advisor from Weill Medical College of Cornell University.
Our doors are open. We are up and running. We are a giant bookstore with lots to offer and we're not going out of business.
Why not stop by and see for yourself?
(Source: Yahoo!, James B. Stewart, The Wall Street Journal)