Today's The New York Times informs me that Borders bookstores will now have huge flat TV's.
I and mine have spent many, many hours at Borders. I like to drink their mango or peach smoothies while I speed-read as many new books as I can, or get info on new beats and albums. TV screens won't bother me since I never look up anyway. I do find it funny, however, that readers are being targeted so much by advertisers.
Aren't they better off going after teenagers who then go after their parents for more cash?
Here are some snippets from the article.
A new strategy at Borders will reinforce the message that its stores are not just about books: the company has been installing 37-inch flat-screen televisions to show original programming, advertisements, news and weather.
George L. Jones, the chief executive of the Borders Group, said each store would have two screens. The broadcast service, called Borders TV, has arrived in nearly 60 stores and is scheduled to reach an additional 250 stores by the end of February.
The screens are “not designed to be intrusive,” Mr. Jones said. Rather, he said, they are “part of a master plan to create content that will do several things for us,” like directing traffic to the Borders Web site and paving the way to more cross-promotional deals with large media companies.
Will literary-minded customers bristle at the intrusion, or will the screens be welcomed as fun? Mr. Jones has a firm opinion: at Borders, “you browse, buy a latte, read a magazine. It’s entertaining.” The televisions are “another way that we can bring knowledge and entertainment,” he said.
per NYT
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