Barnes & Noble doomed?

[Kalihiboy]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

I loved going to record stores, book stores and video stores I guess now I won't be able to do that for much longer...sad. I wonder what is the next thing to dissappear...libraries...movie theaters?

[Mike_Lowery]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

I'm less concerned about paper books vs. digital books as I am about how Americans view reading.

The closure of bookstores en masse reflects this country's failure to muster any sort of collective thought. Meanwhile, we consume reality shows, coffee (how many people knew that Borders sold more than coffee?), and fast food.

[TuNnL]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

The closure of bookstores en masse reflects this country's failure to muster any sort of collective thought. Meanwhile, we consume reality shows, coffee (how many people knew that Borders sold more than coffee?), and fast food.

Where have you been, Mike? This is by design. The illuminati, Bilderbergs and the banking elite have been planning this for centuries. If you follow David Rockefeller, it’s a no-brainer. Government-mandated public education accelerated that process. It’s indoctrination, plain and simple. How many U.S. Presidents attended a public school? Will that ever change?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

How many U.S. Presidents attended a public school?

How far back do you want to go?
============================
George W. Bush attended public schools in Midland, Texas until the family moved to Houston after he completed seventh grade.

William J. Clinton attended both private and public schools growing up in Arkansas and graduated from Hot Springs High School in 1964.

Ronald Reagan attended public school and was a member of the 1928 class of Dixon High School in Dixon, Illinois.

Jimmy Carter was educated in the public schools of Plains, Georgia.

Gerald R. Ford attended public school in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Richard Nixon grew up in Yorba Linda, California, and attended public schools in Whittier & Fullerton, California.

Lyndon Johnson attended public school in Johnson City, Texas.

Dwight D. Eisenhower attended public schools in Abilene, Kansas.

Harry Truman attended several grade schools and high school in Independence, Missouri.

Herbert Hoover spent his first years of education at a small public school in West Branch, Iowa.
==============================
How about getting back on topic now?

[scrivener]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

A few more, just because I love this topic.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler went to the College of William & Mary.

Before transferring to Annapolis, Jimmy Carter went to the Georgia Southwestern State University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

LBJ went to Texas State University at San Marcos.

Benjamin Harrison went to Miami (Ohio).

JFK went to the London School of Economics before transferring to Princeton, before transferring to Harvard.

Before transferring to Harvard, John Quincy Adams attended Leidon University in the Netherlands.

Gerald Ford famously went to the University of Michigan.

James Polk went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Woodrow Wilson started (but did not finish) law school at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Harry S Truman started (but did not finish) law school at the University of Missouri—Kansas City.

Ten (that's roughly one in five) US Presidents never graduated from college.

[TuNnL]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

Ronald Reagan attended public school ... Jimmy Carter was educated in the public schools ... Gerald R. Ford attended public school ... Lyndon Johnson attended public school ... Dwight D. Eisenhower attended public schools in Abilene, Kansas.

So basically, five presidents out of 44 attended public school K-12. The rest realized it would not get them where they wanted to go, and at some point elected to leave the industrial-age cookie cutter curriculum behind, and attend private schools. That is the point. If we want the “collective thought” Mike_Lowery is talking about, we need to change our schools from the ground up. Only then, will we have a society capable of critical thinking.

[anapuni808]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?



I counted 10 on Leo's list - did I count wrong?

and by the way - this is a really good "thread drift" - its gone way off the original subject and it keeps drifting further away with every post! (which I also just contributed to )

[Leo Lakio]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

I counted 10 on Leo's list - did I count wrong?

Nor did I intend it to be a complete list of all presidents; I simply outlined the majority of recent ones (which is why I asked how far back to go).

TuNnL: it's always informative to view different perspectives on issues - but when you post out-and-out (and easily researchable) inaccuracies in your statements, it casts doubt on all of your points, which I am certain is not your intent.

Now - what the hell does any of this presidential schooling talk have to do with the liquidation of a national bookstore chain?

[Amati]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

Now - what the hell does any of this presidential schooling talk have to do with the liquidation of a national bookstore chain?

Maybe B & N only can hold so much of our attention, but this other stuff is what keeps the thread alive?

[Pohaku]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

Borders collapsing is a terrible sign for the whole industry. I feel for my friends who are writers and editors.

[Honoruru]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

I'm less concerned about paper books vs. digital books as I am about how Americans view reading.

The closure of bookstores en masse reflects this country's failure to muster any sort of collective thought. Meanwhile, we consume reality shows, coffee (how many people knew that Borders sold more than coffee?), and fast food.

I kinda agree with Mike.

[Amati]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

I enjoy the actual weight and feel of a book, the convenience of opening up to a bookmarked page, being able to set it down quickly, and the ease of going back to a previous page to reread it.

But, times are changing, and the last two electronic gizmos that have come into our home have both had online bookstore capabilities (including free books, as well as access to the public library online books).

So, if my family is an indicator of the general public's buying habits, then a bookstore that has not (or did not soon enough) embrace those dang modern computer/online books, well, they sadly dug their own [business] grave.

[By the way, I've yet to actually have enjoyed the experience of reading an entire online book, they seem a poor imitation of the real thing to me. But, I'm old fashioned in liking a book vs a screen.]

[Kaonohi]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

It is us/we who are doomed.

Borders Kaneohe is closing on this Friday.

Not sure when B&N is closing, but it is soon.

There is a difference between reading off paper or off flickering backlight.
It is a difference our 'protectors' will discover far too late to make a difference, but I will stick with carbon-based ink on paper non-life for, my readings.

I mourn the loss of B&N and Borders, to the max.

[Snif]

[anapuni808]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

Kaonohi - I totally understand how you feel about holding an actual book in your hands. It took me a long time to decide to buy a Kindle. But, I weighed my desire to read against the cost of books and not being able to get to a library easily. I've had the Kindle since November and am really happy I bought it. There are so many free books - I'm reading books I should have read in school but didn't, like Tolstoy, Dickens, Dumas. I would never had read War & Peace again if it weren't for the Kindle.

and BTW - it doesn't flicker and there is no backlight.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Barnes & Noble doomed?

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/b...126036523.html

It looks like wall to wall customers at the Borders stores on the news.