Borders Should Be An Example

Borders bankruptcy should be an example for any company trying to deal with a paradigm shift.

The book business began to move toward e-books approximately 24 months ago. In addition, places like Amazon.com and Costco can sell books for much less than Borders as they do not have the same overhead structure.

The interesting side story is that indie book stores are still flourishing. They are able to offer specialized customer service. There will always be people who prefer to read a real book!

Price Transparency

Retailers hate price transparency! A Wall Street Journal article details a guy pricing a Garmin for his girlfriend at Best Buy using the camera on his Android phone as a scanner. (This is an application that I use all the time.) The Garmin was $184.85 at Best Buy and $106.75 at Amazon with free shipping and no tax. He was able to purchase the Garmin from Amazon while he was still at Best Buy.

This is a paradigm shift that retailers had better get a handle on fast.

Windows 7 In The UK

I found this photo on Engadget today. Notice that Steve Ballmer is Lucius Malfoy.

The story is that Windows 7 is selling faster than Harry Potter on Amazon in the UK. This is probably due to the disaster known as Vista. As John C. Dvorak puts it, "Windows 7 is just a Vista martini. Like a martini made with cheap vodka, you are inevitably going to get the same old Windows hangover".

Windows 7 may be better than Vista but at the end of the day, it is still Windows.

Amazon Buys Zappos

Forget health care reform. This is the HUGE news of the day, maybe the year. Amazon bought Zappos for $920 million today. One of the few companies that I respect almost as much as Google is Amazon!

Here is a video that Jeff Bezos did for Zappos employees to explain the purchase and what it means to Amazon.

This is exciting!