A David And Goliath Story.
As you know, Bob and I have a tendency to be bibliomaniacs and all that goes with it. The mere thought of spending a few hours in a bookstore, with money to spend will make us salivate and think we've gone to heaven. There is just a special feel about a brick and mortar bookstore that online can't replace. Throw in some comfortable couches and coffee, and suddenly a mere book shop has turned into a nirvana destination.
The collective scent of a new books permeating the air and the many new adventures awaiting between the covers of books are addictive and yet, with the preponderance of shopping online, this is in danger of becoming extinct. Let's face it, the parable of David and Goliath tends to be spot on. Even I have recently bought books from Goliath but my only excuse was the dearth of English language books in the local stores.
Anyway, these two young Viennese bibliophiles have come up with an idea to keep the bookstores alive and thriving. So far, it is being tested in and around Vienna, but they do have plans to expand nationwide. Brilliant.
Their idea? Well, they have created an app ( well, who doesn't these days? ) which lets you, the customer, send them an sms with the name of the book, author or ISBN plus your address and they will organize to have this book delivered to you that same day. They are sourcing their books from existing stores from your area and not like Goliath, creating a warehouse that has a tendency to hasten the demise of brick and mortar stores.
Why shouldn't we have books delivered from real shops the same way a Mr. Delivery delivers from restaurants? The idea is so simple and for those addicted to getting stuff delivered, this is a perfect panacea to salve guilty minds.
At the moment only the lucky Viennese can make use of this, but I am hoping it will catch on countrywide...and for the meantime, I will have to be very nice to those Eisenbergers who commute weekly to Vienna...
Biggi
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