Swiped from "Publishers Lunch"

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Amazon Closes Distribution Centers, Cuts 215 Jobs
Amazon will close three distribution centers in Munster, Ind., Red Rock, Nev., and Chambersburg, Pa., the first such moves since 2006.
TechFlashhttp://www.

Comments

[darkmatterhari]

Cutting unnecessary operational overhead by making more effective use of existing resources and moving fulfillment to warehouses with better capacity and capability. Seems like a pretty intelligent business move. Increasing fulfillment at the better equipped warehouses (like the one here in Phx) will create job growth at those locations while reducing the ops cost of maintaining separate facilities, giving Amazon higher revenues to inject into new ventures or research which will ultimately funnel into more jobs in those new ventures.

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Yes, it could be a smart business move for them... but I was posting because it says something for the industry, which already is/was suffering with cutbacks at various publishers (although some former editors are turning into agents), the current situation with Borders, and peoples' spending habits in general.

Justified Internal Paranoia Relating to Post:
I'm still trying to find a paid internship/summer job and the pickins are slim. I've been sending out my resume like mad, even to places that haven't said they're hiring. I do have the backup option of returning to my job from last summer, but I only make enough to support myself there, not save much money. I feel like if I'm working where I can barely pay my bills, I'd rather be doing it in another state (most likely New York or California, which could feel like working vacations) and/or for class credit and/or for something that actually looks impressive on my resume.

[darkmatterhari]

Ah, see I didn't know Amazon was a publisher. Or about Borders - is that the CD/DVD thing? That kind of makes sense to me though just because I always thought their prices on that stuff was hilariously outrageous and didn't understand why anyone would pay those prices.

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It's circular to some extent, but I meant that with less demand for printed material, well, lots of cutbacks all around...

[azul_ros]

I think publishing is slowly moving towards the e-book mode. It won't catch on right away because a) not many people can afford items like the Kindle, b) too many people like actual books. I suspect that it'll be like mp3's, where people will download something & if they like it enough, they'll buy a hardcopy. But until the economy quits tanking, I doubt it will be that widespread.

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The suckiest quality of e-book readers is that they don't have a lot of font options. So something might only "zoom" to 11pt. font with a lower background contrast than paper.

Re: cranky old man in training

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I'd gladly get a Kindle or similar if they could fix my font size issues. I'd probably use it mostly to read magazines and papers, and mass market paperbacks that are normally too small, and still buy print books of favorites.