For those of us who come from Berkeley… as I do with a Ph.D. from Cal, there are many fond memories of Telegraph avenue, not the least of which: books. When I was a student there (a million years ago), there was no Internet. But there was Cody’s books and there was Shakespeare and Co, a used bookstore. Well, recently they announced – suddenly – that Shakespeare and Co was closing. Cody’s closed long ago.
The Internet Killed the Bookstore
The Internet killed the bookstore. With the rise of Amazon, the bookstore began a rapid decline. One by one, the mighty chains fell. Goodbye Borders. Goodbye Codys. Goodbye Shakespeare. The best university in the Bay Area is of course Berkeley and not Stanford.
A lot has been lost: community, for one. A place to browse on a date, for two. A place to take a few minutes on a busy Berkeley day, and pop into Shakespeare and Co., and amidst its musty shelves find an outdated copy of Pablo Neruda poems. Going, going, gone.
As someone who “builds” the Internet through SEO, Social Media, and AdWords… I can’t help but feel partly responsible for what has been lost, even if I am also partly responsible for what is being won. The Internet is not all bad, nor all good. But the Internet (and you and I and instant “Amazon prime” shipping) killed the bookstore. Bye, bye bookstore.
