When a Bookstore Closes, an Argument Ends

Go read your e-book in a cafe, or go to the library. Problem solved. Argument ended and won.

We need more analysis of &quot;uncanny valley&quot; boundaries between F2F discovery and atomized collaborative filtering. E.g. Amazon reviews can be better than algo recommendations for book discovery. From the article:<p><i>&quot;By atomizing our experience to the point of alienation—or, at best, by creating substitutes for common experience (“you might also like…” lists, Twitter exchanges instead of face-to-face conversations)—we lose the common thread of civil life ... Books are not just other luxury items to be shopped for. They are the levers of our consciousness.</i>&quot;

&gt; I knew that it would be closing for good, though I was surprised to find that its fermeture definitive was to be this week, on Saturday, June 14th.<p>Saturday is the 13th. I know it&#x27;s a minor detail, but when I see something like that, I can&#x27;t help but stop dead in my tracks and wonder if anyone took the time to give this a cursory once-over before publication.