Present Tense Books is selection for today's 'Genesee Cash Mob'

Keep your Kindle, the Nook stinks, give me a book anyday and paperback is fine. I like vinyl over CD too. And a toaster is better than a toaster oven for making toast. Don't ask me how I know, but I do.

Lol George, I like books and I like vinyl, too. I also like CD's and the 32 GB thumb drive I carry around with ebooks, audio books and movies on it. I like making toast on the wood stove during the winter as I think it's superior to and faster than a toaster or a toaster oven. It also doesn't add to my absurd electricity bill. (Ever look at your bill? Delivery fees and taxes cost more than the electricity itself!)

My other half ONLY reads books. She says she loves the smell of the paper and the feel of the books in her hands.

Today was my first time in Present Tense, great atmosphere, picked up a copy of "Tonight We Die as Men". Great idea Chris, I look forward to the next weeks "Mob"

Thanks for participating Jeff. Present Tense is a great store and I hope folks like you who went there for the first time today found a good reason to go back.

One of the nice things about this is that people may have the chance to discover a place they never knew about but really like.

I'll be posting up voting links weekly here at The Batavian, so stay tuned and don't forget to vote in next weeks event. It will be up Monday at WNYMedia.

I picked up a summer read, some peach ginger tea and a book called Go The F**k To Sleep which is a hilarious bedtime story for parents who can't get their little one to sleep. There was a line when I was checking out around 4:15.

Can't wait to see which business is the next recipient.

Know what's better than books? Stone tablets. If it was good enough for the Ten Commandments then it's good enough for me.

Books are going away, and that's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when". Kind of like how the newspaper and magazine industry is going under, right Howard? So, while I applaud the nobility of supporting local business, you'll eventually be buying a Kindle-like device. If the smell bothers you, grab some of this: http://smellofbooks.com

Is anyone tracking the revenue earned over the average? That way we can track how successful this is.

I wasn't going to post anything originally because supporting a local business is always cool in my book. Then people started poo-pooing on ereaders. Self interest extends beyond money in a local bank account.

ebooks are cheaper. That means that you can by more books, and support more authors (some of which may be located right here in Batavia).

Publishing them is also cheaper and easier for authors (meaning more writers can actually make money writing without signing to a big ol' publisher).

The net harm done to the planet is less.

I could go on, but I'm tired. Every point also has far-reaching consequence. More books sold and a lower barrier for publishing means more people can make a living as an author. You get the idea. We can't have a hyper-focus on our little community and forget that we now live in a global society.

Wasn't able to make the 'mob' this week, will stop there next week sometime. Chris kudos for this great idea.

I got 2 books including "The Help" which I heard is excellent. And some fresh cut flowers to give to my daughter following her performance in CATS. Worked out perfectly. Now time for me to lay down and read. I need a real book for that.

Nick, the main vote getter was Present Tense. That should tell you something. I utilize iBooks _and_ purchase books the traditional way. The cash mob model is about what local people want to spend their money on.

We're also not going to require business owners to keep a running tab of receipts and force them to compare those receipts to like days in previous years. If the destination in a particular week doesn't appeal to you, then join us on a week when it does. The winners in our first two weeks in Buffalo were a wine shop and a beer shop. There was quite a bit of feedback about choosing a place that didn't involve booze and that input was taken into account by the guy who started all of this. I'll do my best to do the same.

@Dan

Thanks for the Kudos, but please send the credit back to Chris Smith at WNYMedia.net. The original idea was his and I'm just trying to make it work in our community. I know he's in the process of refining and improving the cash mob concept and I'm looking forward to plagiarizing more of his good ideas.

Interesting aside: A person who heard about this called me at work today. She's unable to use the internet and wanted updates on where we'll be in the coming weeks. I took her phone number and told her I'd keep her up to date...anyon ehave any ideas on how this concept could be expanded to inform the folks who aren't internet savvy?

I voted for Present Tense but I hope I can get a good bottle or wine or some fancy beer next week.

I printed the story about Genesee Cash Mob in my breakfast and lunch "Conversation Starter" that is placed on each table. The name of the business and time to 'mob' is posted on The Snack Shop Bulletin board. Also, put the story in the upcoming Sept. newsletter. Many of the residents don't have internet access, but I want them to feel that they can participate. I'd love to have you come and give a short talk about Genesee Cash Mob. :)

Beth Kinsley wrote:
"I got 2 books including "The Help" which I heard is excellent."

I can't wait to read it. It is our selection for book discussion in Oct.

"anyone have any ideas on how this concept could be expanded to inform the folks who aren't internet savvy?"

Before my time, but what about a phone tree? People still do those?

Also, I think some people missed my point. I wasn't dissing Present Tense. I was merely defending modern technology and business practices since the first few posters seemed to be luddites.

As for tracking, I figured shops would be tracking revenue for tax purposes anyways. I don't run that kind of business, so I don't know how any of that works. If it's a pain to check daily revenue against another day, then I completely understand why it's not being done. It is a shame thoungh. :(

Thank you to everyone who voted for Present Tense as the first Genesee Cash Mob location! It was an honor for us to be the inaugural business. And thanks to those of you who came in yesterday and supported us. We are so grateful for and appreciative of the support from this community. We wouldn’t be here without you!

To address a few of the issues raised in these comments:
It is our belief that physical books will never go away entirely. There are too many benefits to a real book for them to ever become completely obsolete. However, there is no reason why physical books can’t coincide with ebooks so that we can take advantage of those benefits as well. Present Tense now offers ebooks for sale on our website so you can shop locally for your digital reading needs. (https://presenttensebooks.mybooksandmore.com/MBM/screens/index.jsp) One of the advantages of a small, locally-owned business is that the people running the business are actually talking to customers. We heard a request for electronic books from our customers and were able to respond.

Lastly, one commenter mentioned that “the net harm done to the planet is less” for ebooks than physical books. I didn’t see a reference source sited for that statement, but as far as I know, within the book industry to date there is no definitive answer to the question of which book format is more environmentally friendly. Ebooks may save trees, but there are the far-reaching and often overlooked issues of e-waste and energy consumption. The materials, such as plastic, copper, and lead, from which e-readers and other reading devices are made are not necessarily a greener alternative, and energy consumption in manufacturing is still significant. At Present Tense, we do offer a green option. We have partnered with Eco-Libris, an organization that plants trees to balance out the paper used in the books that are purchased. We are proud to offer this sustainable reading option for customers who wish to minimize their impact on the environment. You can go to www.ecolibris.net for more information.

Thank you again for your support. We look forward to seeing more businesses participate in the Genesee Cash Mob!

Darrick, your insight into the issue of the environmentally friendliness of e-books vs. paper ones is interesting. Personally, I tend to read on the computer for business, learning and information gathering, curiosity and occasionally shopping, but rarely for pleasure. (For the latter, I enjoy watching videos, old TV clips and stand-up comedy routines online, not reading chapter after chapter on a lit screen -- decidedly uncozy.)

To enjoy quality writing and sate my esoteric tastes, I'm not one for racing through bestsellers, much less doing so online. I, too, enjoy the smell of books, perusing their dust jackets, and all their little differences -- paper, typeface, fotos, binding, etcetera. I've never taken in an audio book, but that sounds worth checking out for a change of pace.

We have a lot of options today. No fool would argue we do not live in a global society, which makes localism all the more appealing. It's not about being disconnected, but about choosing more consciously what to connect with.

I don't doubt that physical books will stick around. Look at vinyl. Like vinyl however, fewer and fewer books will be offered in physical medium. Look at what the mp3 market has done to sales of CDs. A lot of people never thought that'd happen because the audio quality of an mp3 is lacking compared to vinyl, but now iTunes pretty much owns the industry.

As for the personal touch offered by shop owners, I have no doubt that that is helpful to many. Some people want that in-person help. I personally prefer using the opinions of a few hundred people on Amazon over the opinion of 1 or 2 shopkeepers.

As for citing sources, I'm not a reporter and everyone here should be able to use Google. Besides, anyone can find a source to back up their idea. I could go find a dozen articles showing evidence that global warming is a myth. It's only by looking at the big picture that you can make an educated argument. I'm leaving a comment, not writing a paper. If the existing evidence isn't enough for you, I understand, and that's fine. I listed that as my final point because it is the one with the most controversy. All this aside, I am very happy that a local business is focusing on being green. I hope more businesses follow this example.

I am always for supporting a local business. My orinal argument

http://thebatavian.com/howard-owens/present-tense-books-selection-today…

was to point out the eventual demise of the physical book. In a world where people still have vinyl and VHS, it'll never be completely gone, but the business for it will be scarce. Hopefully this is well after the time of Present Tense. I also didn't state any preference for global business over local business. I only stated a trend. As much as I'd like to buy American, it's getting harder and harder to do so. The same can be said for buying local. Even our local chain stores like Blockbuster are giving way to Redbox and Netflix.

The really funny irony of this whole argument and situation is that everyone here is reading and commenting on an online news site, one which demonstrates a number of things that you can do in virtual media and not in physical form. Furthermore, unlike physical media, the Batavian is easily distributed globally. So you're all not just watching the degradation of business for physical media, you're participating in it.

BTW is it just me or is this reminding anyone else of the movie "You've Got Mail"?