Just got an email from Bathesda Book Centre that they are moving out. I have fond memories of them in the 80s especially when I was serving my NS and later studying in NUS. How I would walk from and eventually drive from Braddell View to the shop. I would spend sometimes hours there, often buying books and greeting cards. In the last few years, I insisted with only rare exceptions that I only ebooks will do and often wondered how many customers were doing the same. Unlike Times, MPH, Kino and Popular they are a niche player. Boutique outfits elsewhere are still getting by and I hope they would too. Nevertheless I wouldn't be surprised their days are numbered if they do not figure a way to adapt to the new reality.
What I don't like about ebooks is that they are so clinical and unsentimental. I always like those scenes in Star Trek of Captain Picard enjoying an old fashioned book. Perhaps my pace of life is too fast and there are many things to do, and I cannot stop to smell the roses. Ebooks are just supremely practical for my lifestyle at the moment. I should be grateful that I am making time to read! But there is no future except wishing on dumb luck for the non-reader.
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