Good News for Book Worms

Today, I went to a neighborhood mall shopping for a Christmas present.  And I was surprised to see the bookstore there was full of shoppers.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the many other stores in the same mall.

At the bookstore, even though there are still seven shopping days before Christmas, this was the first time over the past four years I saw a line-up in this friendly place.  Behind its non-descriptive cashier's counter, the manager was on the phone talking to a would-be buyer.  Two cashiers, in addition to directing shoppers to the right section for the book they were looking for, were also busy ringing  up sales.  The shoppers there were buying, among many other things, mostly books of all subjects in both hard covers and paperbacks.  Although my purchase of a crossword puzzle dictionary did not bring down the house, business at this store was booming.

On my way out after I got the book, what I saw going on in many other stores in the same mall were not very encouraging.  I thought an overstocked electronics shop will be a busy place during this gift-giving season.  There was not a single customer there.  It was the same at a sparkling jewelry store.  Business at a few other shops in that part of the mall did not look brisk either.

What I observed at the mall this afternoon did make me wonder on how the many small shops in the  mall were faring.  Operaitng a business in a shopping mall is a very expensive proposition in terms of rent, maintenance fees and property taxes.  Being a happy shopper of this mall for many years, I do wish them all doing well all year around. So all of them can continue to provide the public with a pleasant place to shop.

My visit to the bookstore this afternoon also afforded me some very welcoming insight on the uncertain future of book stores.  At that store it appears there was no shortage of book buyers.  To me book stores are like libraries.  They will continue to be important part of our existence for years to come!

And a merry Christmas wish to all!

-  Ayee

The drone is coming to town.

After I heard from "60 Minutes" last Saturday that Amazon.Com was working on deploying the costly drone technique to deliver its goodies, I conjured up a picture of Santa Claus making his Christmas deliveries with a fleet of spider-look alike black robots, instead of its usual team of sweating nose-twitching  reindeers.

And I do not think the hard-working  reindeers  are the only ones who dislike what they did not see in this picture.  Regardless whoever the service-providers are, the change over to deliver by robots would definitely take a dismal toll on people who currently making a living in the delivering business.

In addition, most consumers, myself included, are fairly pleased with the delivery services that the on-line companies are providing.  This is one of the reasons why numbers of people buying on-line are rising.  So why should anyone fix something that is not broken.  -  Ayee