RIP Borders, I'll miss you/A rant against the closing against bookstores

I know that I'd heard this before but today there was an article confirming the now slowly-dying death that Borders is going through. Not only is this a bad time for books/bookstores/readers/me, but it also signifies the gradual decrease in our standards in the country. I mean, think about it. The fewer books we have to read, the less we're going to break away from tv, computers, and video games. I know this may seem somewhat harsh, and I apologize for it, but the way I've seen our society, we're not getting any smarter; without book stores, not many more people are going to be reading, and that's where society is going to take a hit. Example of this: there's somebody I know whom I'm not going to name, but she says she doesn't read. I feel this reflects on the current state of America as we're far more occupied with technology. When you bundle this with the fact that we've been known to collectively not fare well with essential knowledge (i.e. basic geography, American/world history, etc.) the important role of books helps out, but alas, the chance to get more enlightened is slowly ebbing away. It's great and all that we can get the books we want digitally, but it's not the same. If anything, it just adds on to our reliance to technology, which can turn out to be our downfall. What if, for some reason or another, that the technology went kaput? We'd be screwed. Another peeve of mine is that it's harder to carry the e-readers with you on trips, whereas books are simpler to carry. The maintenance of it also can be raised as a negative; you'd need to recharge/need batteries for the e-readers as opposed to good, old fashioned books being simple and unneedy. Okay so maybe I'm biased as I haven't used an e-reader or a Kindle, but you can see what I'm trying to say, I hope.

Moving away from the personal rant, I'm going to miss Borders a ton. I know that there's Barnes and Nobles to go to, and even the library, but to this blogger, Borders was like a large family. Whenever I went there, I knew that the environment of it would make for a spiritual trip there. The hours I spent in there were quiet and peaceful, and I don't think I'll really be able to get that experience very easily from now on. I know I shouldn't be complaining about having other options, but for some reason, Barnes and Nobles hasn't cut it for me. I guess it seems too quiet there for my liking, or maybe I'm just biased and like the Borders way of organizing the books. However, in the end, I'll have to make trips to B & N. Another thing I'm going to miss of Borders is their generous coupons. Really, you can't beat coupons that offer up to 40% off of their products. And their staff are warm and inviting, whereas the times I've been to B & N the staff haven't been as warm as I'd have preferred. Ah well, I guess I can go to the libraries instead of B & N and save money while patronizing them.

In the end, here are my reasons why I'm vehemently opposed to the closing of bookstores:
- Borders is/was an awesome place to go read and purchase books
- Technology has cut into the book buying business
- I feel that in my humble opinion, technology has barged in on to the sacred territory that books hold in my heart
- America really can't afford to read less books
- On that note, technology has spoiled Americans. It's okay to read books now and then-nobody thinks less of you for doing so, I promise.
- 10,700 jobs are going out the window thanks to Borders shutting down all of their stores; what happens if the other bookstores die down the road?
- Reading has always been a favorite pastime of mine. Please, for the next generations, let's keep that up.