Rich Fiscus
14 Feb 2008 22:36
Brick and mortar retailer Borders is hoping to be competitive with online stores like Amazon.com by introducing a new type of store designed to appeal to consumers accustomed to getting what they want when they want it. In addition to the standard assortment of books, CDs, DVDs, and other traditional media, the stores will feature a Digital Center.
The Digital Center will be a place for customers to download eBooks and audiobooks and create and burn custom CDs. Additional features like self-publishing and family tree research will also be possible from the stores' Digital Centers.
Phil Leigh, senior analyst with Inside Digital Media, told TechNewsWorld "Things like this have been tried before and haven't worked largely because people get impatient for the CD to download, because you have to wait for others to get out of the way and wait for the machine to burn it." He added "The longer the line, the worse it is. We'll have to see if they've effectively dealt with that. But I applaud their efforts to take these steps to adapt the terrestrial retail environment to the digital realities of today."