Zoomi in and Read!
As I have written again and again, Amazon.com changed the way we shop. Not just "shop online." But the way we shop, period.
I probably don't need to detail what those changes were, but in general: Amazon created a virtual online emporium, where you can via search or browse, shop for a wide and wild array of goods, comparing features and prices, reading reviews from other shoppers, getting shipping discounts, even creating wish lists for gift-buyers to fulfill. And of course, there was the whole notion of a "shopping cart."
Interestingly, Amazon chose books as the first big product category. In a way, it made perfect sense - there are no sizes or colors to fuss over; shipping is very straight-forward and there is even a special "book rate," books are already warehoused so, the ship model was relatively easy. You can even "browse" a book (you can see a few screen shots of inside pages, read a couple of pages, to get the gist of a book. "People who liked (x) also liked (y)" recommendations provide still more opportunity to shop.
The one thing Amazon lost in its virtual book store was the serendipity of the experience of book shopping. Real book lovers just enjoy the whole process of picking up a book, feeling the weight of the paper and seeing the imprint of the type on a page; smelling the paper and ink; flipping to random pages and reading a sentence or two to "get the feel." And then there is wandering down favorite aisles to see "what's new." Good book sellers will turn occasional covers face front to grab attention. Many of my favorite reads have been stumbled upon this way.
And this is what - until now - has been missing from the experience of shopping for books online.
Zoomi Books has created an online application that hopes to provide you with at least some of this experience in a virtual environment.
Visit Zoomi Books, and you will enter a "room" filled with "shelves" of books. You can roam around the room by dragging from place to place, or select a category (fiction, biography, etc.) from a menu. Zoom out to get a birds-eye view of the bookstore, or zoom in to see an individual shelf. Select a book, and you'll get a close up of the volume with its basic details, as well as an option to see the book on Amazon, where you can browse pages, and take advantage of all of Amazon's other shopping aids, such as reader ratings and reviews.
You can create an account where you can save books and searches, and even send info back to the application owner about whether the book has been properly "shelved."
Right now, the top-ranked 25,000 books are shown on the bookshelves, with plans to include even more over time.
No, it can't replace the feel of the books, the smell of the coffee and the hushed chat of bookstore patrons. But it does add another dimension to the online shopping experience, and definitely points toward things to come.
I probably don't need to detail what those changes were, but in general: Amazon created a virtual online emporium, where you can via search or browse, shop for a wide and wild array of goods, comparing features and prices, reading reviews from other shoppers, getting shipping discounts, even creating wish lists for gift-buyers to fulfill. And of course, there was the whole notion of a "shopping cart."
Interestingly, Amazon chose books as the first big product category. In a way, it made perfect sense - there are no sizes or colors to fuss over; shipping is very straight-forward and there is even a special "book rate," books are already warehoused so, the ship model was relatively easy. You can even "browse" a book (you can see a few screen shots of inside pages, read a couple of pages, to get the gist of a book. "People who liked (x) also liked (y)" recommendations provide still more opportunity to shop.
The one thing Amazon lost in its virtual book store was the serendipity of the experience of book shopping. Real book lovers just enjoy the whole process of picking up a book, feeling the weight of the paper and seeing the imprint of the type on a page; smelling the paper and ink; flipping to random pages and reading a sentence or two to "get the feel." And then there is wandering down favorite aisles to see "what's new." Good book sellers will turn occasional covers face front to grab attention. Many of my favorite reads have been stumbled upon this way.
And this is what - until now - has been missing from the experience of shopping for books online.
Zoomi Books has created an online application that hopes to provide you with at least some of this experience in a virtual environment.
Visit Zoomi Books, and you will enter a "room" filled with "shelves" of books. You can roam around the room by dragging from place to place, or select a category (fiction, biography, etc.) from a menu. Zoom out to get a birds-eye view of the bookstore, or zoom in to see an individual shelf. Select a book, and you'll get a close up of the volume with its basic details, as well as an option to see the book on Amazon, where you can browse pages, and take advantage of all of Amazon's other shopping aids, such as reader ratings and reviews.
You can create an account where you can save books and searches, and even send info back to the application owner about whether the book has been properly "shelved."
Right now, the top-ranked 25,000 books are shown on the bookshelves, with plans to include even more over time.
No, it can't replace the feel of the books, the smell of the coffee and the hushed chat of bookstore patrons. But it does add another dimension to the online shopping experience, and definitely points toward things to come.
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