Thread

Japanese used bookstores see 5x sales surge as books are being bought by the ton

96 points · 130 comments · speckx

tsylba · 1790265354 · focus · HN ↗
Ah yes, the litteral destruction of culture and physical media for a centralised subscription service. I love the liberal world of techno enclosures of our new overlords, viva el free market economy.
1. Analemma_ · 1790265458 · focus · HN ↗
  What do you think happened to all these used books before the AI companies showed up?
  1. alightsoul · 1790266340 · focus · HN ↗
    They sat in boxes
    ghc · 1790266449 · focus · HN ↗
    Not quite:
    > But what happens when sales numbers don't meet projections? The book is discounted. Then, at the publisher's discretion, the bookstore will receive a directive to rip the covers off the books, recycle the remainder of the book to be "pulped" or turned into other forms of paper, such as notebook paper and toilet paper. The bookstore is expected to mail the book covers to the publisher as evidence that the book has been destroyed.
    <a href="https://www.offthebeatenshelf.com/blog/pulp-fiction-is-real" rel="nofollow">https://www.offthebeatenshelf.com/blog/pulp-fiction-is-real
    sebmellen · 1790267006 · focus · HN ↗
    TIL that's where the term "pulp fiction" comes from!

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