Microcosm Publishing Barters Books for Your Kindle to Keep Print Alive

In what may be seen as a last ditch effort to keep the print publishing business alive, Microcosm Publishing, a bookseller in Portland, Oregon, is making a deal with Kindle owners. Owners of the Amazon e-reader can go to the company’s store to swap their Kindle for the equivalent in books with printed pages.

While national booksellers such as Borders and Barnes & Noble have embraced digital technology for growth–both offer e-books through a digital storefront, are offering e-reading apps on platforms such as iOS and Android, and sell e-ink and other tablet and e-reader hardware–it seems that Microcosm, as its name implies, isn’t seing the “macro” picture by sticking to yesterday’s technology without evolving its strategy.

While printed books won’t die anytime soon–there are plenty of libraries around and many people prefer to read a printed page–the growth in the digital book market, along with competition from e-tailers like Amazon have hurt local booksellers.

It’s unclear what Microcosm intends on doing with your $139 or $189 Kindle, but you’ll probably need to “bring a friend to help you carry all your loot,” as the company warns.

Via: Pocket-lint