Two business news out yesterday.
Google announced blockbuster earnings last night with billions in cash reserve and cash flows to envy (irony is Blockbuster earnings are nowhere like Google).
Borders book group is hanging by a thread to survive in it's bankruptcy saga with individual consumers either too disintersted to read old fashioned print or not having enough to pay for books without a paycheck. You could argue that Google like services have helped disenfranchise folks from the traditional media like books and newspapers.
But Borders served a purpose far beyond being just a bookstore. To me, a loyal customer of the bookstore it was also a good refuge to go when the weather turned nasty during my grocery run or I had an hour to kill when the daughter was in art class. Sip a latte or chai and read a few words of wisdom from a global library of authors.
In many neighborhoods it provided a good alternative to low income folk to find a good read and get away from their daily grind.
My proposal to Google is to offer the knight in shining armor rescue package and buyout the book store chain. Rebrand it if they must and keep this treasure trove of wonderful stories of exotic places far and beyond accessible to the kid in each of us. Implications of this move are huge and obvious from a strategic perspective.
As a consumer of Google services and therefore a customer indirectly, I am thrilled with what Google has done to search and making information available to those who seek it.
Google announced blockbuster earnings last night with billions in cash reserve and cash flows to envy (irony is Blockbuster earnings are nowhere like Google).
Borders book group is hanging by a thread to survive in it's bankruptcy saga with individual consumers either too disintersted to read old fashioned print or not having enough to pay for books without a paycheck. You could argue that Google like services have helped disenfranchise folks from the traditional media like books and newspapers.
But Borders served a purpose far beyond being just a bookstore. To me, a loyal customer of the bookstore it was also a good refuge to go when the weather turned nasty during my grocery run or I had an hour to kill when the daughter was in art class. Sip a latte or chai and read a few words of wisdom from a global library of authors.
In many neighborhoods it provided a good alternative to low income folk to find a good read and get away from their daily grind.
My proposal to Google is to offer the knight in shining armor rescue package and buyout the book store chain. Rebrand it if they must and keep this treasure trove of wonderful stories of exotic places far and beyond accessible to the kid in each of us. Implications of this move are huge and obvious from a strategic perspective.
As a consumer of Google services and therefore a customer indirectly, I am thrilled with what Google has done to search and making information available to those who seek it.
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