Today's The New York Times informs me that Borders bookstores will now have huge flat TV's.
I and mine have spent many, many hours at Borders. I like to drink their mango or peach smoothies while I speed-read as many new books as I can, or get info on new beats and albums. TV screens won't bother me since I never look up anyway. I do find it funny, however, that readers are being targeted so much by advertisers.
Aren't they better off going after teenagers who then go after their parents for more cash?
Here are some snippets from the article.
A new strategy at Borders will reinforce the message that its stores are not just about books: the company has been installing 37-inch flat-screen televisions to show original programming, advertisements, news and weather.
George L. Jones, the chief executive of the Borders Group, said each store would have two screens. The broadcast service, called Borders TV, has arrived in nearly 60 stores and is scheduled to reach an additional 250 stores by the end of February.
The screens are “not designed to be intrusive,” Mr. Jones said. Rather, he said, they are “part of a master plan to create content that will do several things for us,” like directing traffic to the Borders Web site and paving the way to more cross-promotional deals with large media companies.
Will literary-minded customers bristle at the intrusion, or will the screens be welcomed as fun? Mr. Jones has a firm opinion: at Borders, “you browse, buy a latte, read a magazine. It’s entertaining.” The televisions are “another way that we can bring knowledge and entertainment,” he said.
per NYT
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5 comments:
I doubt that I'll want to buy a Hybrid while sipping my latte at Borders......
It's a combination of factors that make the setting enjoyable and comfortable to me: many new book and music titles, little coffeeshop chatter that gets meshed with my iPod sounds, the people, et al. I also, very much doubt, that I'll be looking at their flat screens. It's only a one-hour break after all, and there are way too many new things that are already begging for my reading attention.... I don't really care to get the TV point.
The Mocha is good too. And the easy access to books, of course. Am not sure about the TV's. I share your nonchalance on the matter.....
Incredible. To any true bibliophile, the best bookstore chain is Barnes & Noble; this new bit about flat screens playing non-stop at Borders now cements this opinion. What a nonsensical mix of media. I noticed the trend the other day in Wells Fargo. To my utter amazement, I noticed a flat screen playing merrily away up in the corner in full view of the teller stations. Right. Postmodern media in financial institutions anyone?
Weird, indeed. Too many distractions out there. We're inundated with visual info. How much can the poor customer actually buy?!
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