Next to the public library, more people today prefer to congregate at bookstores and magazine stands. No need for a library card to open a book or magazine to browse. Better yet, money to buy the printed material is not needed. Who ever heard of paying for sampling? That's why most magazines are now shrink-wrapped (especially the porn mags).
Of the big booksellers, only Barnes & Noble is still clinging to life. It's just a matter of when (not if) for B&B. Borders is gone. I can't even recall the names of the stores that died long ago. Today, other than flea markets or garage sales you'll be lucky to find a store that sells music CD's (which replaced the vinyls). Even the movie rental stores are gone, replaced by online companies, Walmart and drugstores.
What does the future hold for the fate of brick-and-mortar stores? No need to go hunt for a crystal ball for this question. Everything's available online now, even prescription drugs or cars (Penthouse and Playboy). Tesla has opened the first cyber car store and dealers in New Jersey are up in arms. Fortunately, for the moment, Gov. "Bridgegate" Christie sided with the dealers (who donate large sums to his campaign coffers) and banned Tesla from being sold in New Jersey.
The IRS is openly encouraging e-filing of tax returns to the chagrin of the post office that used to earn truckloads of money when people use registered snail mail to send in their returns. Even banks (ING) are into cyber banking. It may not be far fetched to imagine someday that your printer will spit out legal tender you can spend at the still operating supermarkets! Today you don't need to line up at the post office to buy a book of stamps - you print your own. The USPS' worse enemy was email - depriving it of billions of dollars in sure income. As a result, the slobs who still peck away at their typewriters or lick their pencils to write that letter have to fork more and more money for that self-adhesive stamp!
Who remembers the payphone? Those are collector items now! I'm old enough to remember with a guilty smile how you gave the payphone a whack at the side to make that bell ring so you can dial the number you need to call. Or that dime with a string attached to it!
Some medical services are done over the internet. You dial a doctor's number and... yeah, you know the drill... attach the BP machine to the PC, stick your tongue out at the webcam, move your eyes closer to the webcam, attach a stethoscope to the PC, etc. and the doctor says "You've got a strain of Evola. Don't leave your house and wait for the Hazmat team to pick you up."
The parking meters! Yup, they're gone, too! You just display your ticket on the dashboard and do your thing. A ticket maid comes along and scans your ticket. No more fines to pay. That scanner just adds $5 and a little penalty for running overtime to your credit card!
Your only enemy: the hackers. Yes, there ought to be a new law that allows the justice system to incapacitate hackers (e.g. cut of their hands, pluck out their eyes, cut their tongues or just plain hang them on a lamp post). Until then, you'll still need to go around doing many things the old normal way.
Oh, by the way, libraries are now on the way to just having ebooks. No need to pay fines for unreturned ebooks. The copy just vanishes from your computer or e-reader!
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