Rocket Bomber - commentary

For centuries before the steam-powered printing press, books were rare: to be scrounged for in small shops, bought used more often than not, each a treasure, and each treasured.

I don’t think most people [the ones who only buy one book a year] understand the bibliophile’s need for books, or the comfort of a personal library full of them.

Digital is fine. Ebooks can be exceptionally convenient. The ebook may eventually supplant certain types of cheap paperback; in fact is already doing so. I also hope the ease of ‘production’, ‘printing’, and distribution ushers in a new Age of Pulp.

(scifi is chugging along fine, but certain types of adventure & mystery stories could use a shot in the arm.)

However: there’s nothing like a book, a physical book in hand with some serious heft, to soothe one’s soul and decorate one’s house. And you can read them! Amazing things.

This is something basic I and many others understand. We were already buying books (much more than one a year) and after the general public’s fling with digital books: we’ll still be buying them. You can predict the death of the bookstore chains, and of the big publishers, and that’s fine. It may even be true. But even when the damn things were made by hand – there was an unquenchable demand for actual books that centuries of writing, printing, and constant reproduction of older titles did nothing to slake.

Books will be scrounged for in small shops, bought used more often than not: each a treasure, and each treasured.

PLEASE do me a favor: DON'T pick out any gifts for your loved ones. Don't buy the book you know they'll love, DON'T get that one gadget you know they've been droping hints about for the last six months, DON'T even bother with gift cards.

You’re going to pick wrong.

I absolutely guarantee you’re going to pick wrong — just like you did last year, just like you’ve done for many, many years. Everyone has just been too polite to say anything.

And then I have to spend days of my life, after the holidays, doing nothing but processing returns. At least once an hour I’ll be asked, “Can’t I just get cash back?”

And sadly, the answer is no.

So let’s all agree: The Perfect Gift Is an Envelope Full of Cash.

I’d love to get cash. Anyone aged 14-28 would definitely prefer cash. Do a gut check: what do you want? Sure, that surprise gift, the exact right thing is great when it comes from the one person in your life (spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend) but for everyone else?

I say: If you’re not sleeping with them, they just get cash.

[If you are sleeping with them, this seems appropriate]

Imagine the time you’ll save. Imagine the lack of stress. If you think cash is too impersonal, put the cash envelope inside of a tin of home-made cookies. That would be fantastic because, c’mon, *cookies* AND *cash*! That would be a holiday gift I’d be talking about for decades. The folks in the retirement home will be sick of hearing about it.

[cash is even traditional in some cultures]

So do yourself a favor. Do your loved ones a favor. Most Importantly, take the pressure and the hassle away from the poor retail clerks who have to process all those damn returns for clothes and other crap gifts: Just give cash this holiday.

Thank you for you time and polite consideration. And I’ll be back in 2012 to repeat this message in RocketBomber’s next Holiday Gift Guide!

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image credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beglen/157929769/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashevillein/2421648773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10899777@N02/1250836095/

I can’t comment directly on any Barnes & Noble actions as I am not authorized to speak for my employer. Decisions on what to stock, or what kind of relationship to maintain with vendors is well above my pay grade, and so even when served up a juicy tidbit — like B&N supposedly not stocking certain bestselling & perennial DC graphic novels because of the Amazon Fire getting first dibs on DC content — even when this is obviously the sort of thing I started this blog to talk about,

Well, I can’t comment.

##

Instead, let us talk about a completely unrelated bit of business — the many ways my employer any large retail chain can communicate projects and directives to employees.

1. There are company intranets — basically web pages that don’t connect to the web — which can be used to store oft-retrieved documents, to announce (to employees) upcoming thematic or strategic shifts in business, to broadcast to employees information that is also being made available to the media (and public) via official press releases, and to basically cheer-lead about how Great It Is to be Working For The Company. [Smiles]

Alas, today was a slow news day — there were no store alerts on the intranet. I couldn’t discuss anything that might have been broadcast on this particular channel anyway, but I feel fine in mentioning that today was relatively quiet: silence is not yet privileged insider information.

2. There are many different scheduling software packages, at least a few of which are employed by retailers — these allow projects to be set up, either as monthly recurring tasks or one-offs, and can include attachments like book merchandise lists, directions on where to place, store, or dispose of merchandise, or even links to outside resources. These projects can go out to the whole chain, or only to a select group of stores, based on the actual displays and merchandise mix.

There are even times when we have to quickly execute projects — say, a publisher is being sued and we have to pull all the books, or a kids toy is found to contain lethal levels of lead, or we have to immediately change a bar code so items ring correctly at the register (failure to do so results in a fine from the Federal Bureau of Weights and Measures).

So we are set up to quickly disseminate an ‘emergency’ project and respond within 24hrs, should someone at corporate want us to.

Why, just today, I used a scheduling software package to assist me in setting multiple displays within my store: display tables, endcaps, even some unusual things like window signage and counter displays. Yep, I was logging on and off of the electronic planner all day, right up until 7pm, doing my job — merchandising displays, checking in all day…

In fact, if there were a situation that needed a quick response, I’d bet a theoretical merchandiser at the corporate level could not only set it up as a project, they’d also be sure an alert went out over the company intranet. It would be quite hard to miss in this theoretical case.

3. If a company chose, why, they could have their IT staff set up email accounts (under the appropriate co. .coms) so both corporate staff at HQ, along with regional field management, could use an established communication protocol [email, duh] to communicate directly to management in stores. It’s a system that gets abused a bit, in theory (as I can’t comment on my own experience using such systems), as it is obviously much easier to just send out an email — either from a desk or a smart phone — than it would be to set up a specific project on the scheduling system, or to clear a company-wide broadcast to go out on the intranet. A lot of crap can be sent over the system, from official spreadsheets and full reports on down to pesky details (individual isbns, or order requests, or availability from publishers) and of course: notices that there are either important messages on the intranet or specific projects that need to be checked off on the scheduler.

There are 3 ways to let store managers know there is a issue that requires immediate attention. In fact, at B&N we’ve often done something similar in the past 2 years and used all 3: especially to comply with the CPSIA. Even a large chain like B&N can move quickly if the right person initiates the project for the right reasons. One’s name and fingerprints are all over it, though: as author of the email, and the post on the intranet, and as the user that initiated the project in the electronic planner.

##

Say you didn’t want to take “credit” though, or you didn’t have the clearance for this sort of company-wide action (at least not without a token sign off from, say, the folks in a different division actually responsible for that department). Some things can be taken care of right away, I suppose. Let’s say I work for the digital, .com division. Why, I can probably go into the inventory system and change the class of a few hundred books in an afternoon – especially if there is already a code to specify ‘web-site only’ for, say, expensive text books or print-on-demand titles. Given the size of the database, I’d bet dozens of people have this kind of access. You wouldn’t even have to cross the corporate divide and clear it with the buyers in the book-and-mortar half of the business — and after it’s done, I doubt there is a way to know who reclassed a few hundred SKUs.

…as, of course, it could theoretically happen at ANY retailer, and while there is no way to know exactly how each inventory system works, I have to state unequivocally that I’m only discussing a theory of mine about stores with websites, and not a specific response to anything that might have happened either today or yesterday.

There is also the telephone. If I happen to know a guy in the right job— maybe then with a few phone calls I might even be able to get a few stores to do things in an adhoc, unofficial way. I mention to a field manager that “this is what we’re doing” “take care of it now; the official project is clearing channels as we speak”

Well, quite a bit could be done this way. It would even be possible to make some major merchandising changes in a short time, if you know the right people, without putting a single damning detail in writing. Not that I would be able to comment on that even if I happened to see it happen. But it exists as a possibility in any large organization where personal relationships make it easier to pick up a phone and ask, than it would be to go through official channels, particularly if there were separate divisions in your company with different and occasionally conflicting goals.

##

I can’t comment on the DC/B&N spat because I’ve been busy just doing my normal monthly merchandising for the past five days without any emergencies or interruptions of any sort —

and if I lay it on any thicker even the fig leaf of ‘theoretics’ won’t cover it.

Like many young adults of my generation, I changed jobs often. Only working a couple of years at this or that, and moving on. Even before moving out into the workforce, I changed my major quite a lot — I stayed at Georgia Tech for more than seven years, and one joke that circulated among my friends is I had to be the only person to attempt to get a Liberal Arts degree from a tech school.

[A joke, of course, because at the time GT had nothing like that: Times have changed.]

So I’ve worked in facilities management, I’ve done independent consulting, I’ve been a bartender, and a security guard, and an unpaid intern. [and a half dozen more I don’t, or don’t want to, remember.] Then, a little over 10 years ago, I took a part-time job at a bookstore to help make ends meet while the independent-consulting-thing went down the tubes, and within months I was working at the bookstore full time. After a couple of years they gave me the first job with ‘manager’ in the title. I learned the whole store bit by bit, working shipping and receiving in the back room, shelving and merchandising, the music department (I managed the music department during our first big shift, adding DVDs to the mix), hiring & training other booksellers, the JOYS of dealing with difficult customers on a daily basis…

A job in a bookstore is an education.

When I first applied, and was hired, the book business was booming — both major chains were already in the hundreds, and opening dozens of stores each month. There was a definite career escalator apparent, so long as you worked at it. An investment on an employee’s part, committing to retail full time and being willing to work any and all of the ridiculous hours the store is open (7am to Midnight, daily) would be repaid with recognition and promotion.

I didn’t have to change jobs every couple of years; I was continually handed new roles, asked to do more, asked to take on more responsibility.

I can see now that major-chain, big box bookselling was in a bubble — but the bubble at the time was firmly supported by customer demand. Each new store was greeted by waves of local neighborhood customers — customers who stayed with us.

[insert Amazon, ebooks, and a recession here — oh, the customers are still with us. Some come in every day. They just stopped buying anything. Enjoy the free ride for as long as it lasts, folks.]

Now, as a bookstore manager, I’m still being asked to do more and more, but with less. Fewer employees, fewer payroll hours… even fewer books. I have to draw from my years of experience daily, as I have to go back and do the tasks I was trained to do years ago, things I used to be able to delegate.

When our music manager quit, corporate decided not to replace him. When one of our merchandise managers moved out to Arizona a couple of years ago, corporate decided not to replace her. We used to have three head cashiers — experienced booksellers trusted to handle customer returns and the cash office (bank deposits, end-of-day reporting and the like) — but now I have one, and she’s going to be taking a vacation in two weeks.

Since 2006, bookstores have moved away from hiring full time employees — you’re either a manager, really, or you’re not. The store used to have ‘lead’ booksellers, in charge of a whole category. Not every fit was perfect — the History lead, for example, might also have philosophy and religion under his purview, and the Fiction lead might not be as strong in sci-fi as she was in mysteries — but full-time booksellers were employed by the store, and part of their day-to-day job was to make their expertise available to our customers.

A decision was made to move away from this model — fewer full-time booksellers, fewer “leads”. Some specialty departments have to have a lead: the Kids department, primarily. Ideally you’d have two full time kids books specialists on staff. The newsstand also can’t be handled as a by-the-way assignment to a regular bookseller; even if corporate decides to do away with this position too, I’ll have to train & schedule a bookseller (or three part-timers) to fulfil the role, even without the job title or commensurate salary.

Part of scaling back full-time employees meant moving booksellers to new roles. Not everyone has proved to be as adaptable as I am, or as nimble in taking up new tasks.

Say you hired an older gentlemen 8 years ago because he liked books and was an avid gardener. After a couple of months, his affable nature and ease with customers — and open availability, including nights and weekends — makes it easy to promote him into a lead bookseller position. You hire him on full time & give him the Gardening section… plus cookbooks, and crafts, and art and interior design; not that he’s an expert in those subjects as well, but he learns. He starts making recommendations on what customers should buy, and also on what the store should order.

And then some bozo in corporate decides, well, this isn’t the best way to run a bookstore.

We can’t fire our Gardener just because of a ‘strategic’ move in human resources, though, so we start moving him around: Helping out in our back room over the holidays when more boxes are coming in, working on merchandise maintenance in the mornings (re-alphabetizing, pulling returns, and the like), putting him on the customer service desk—which is the best fit—but also being reminded by corporate [paraphrasing] “Customer service is not really a full time position. You’ll need to reclass and demote your Gardener, down to part time, or move him into one of the remaining full time positions”

aside: WHY THE HELL ISN'T CUSTOMER SERVICE CONSIDERED THE PROPER ROLE FOR FULL TIME BOOKSELLERS WITH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE?

Remaining full time positions? Can I move him to the music department then?

“No, there are no full time positions in Music either, as your store does not currently merit a department manager there, and we’re even moving away from having a ‘lead’ in that area”

aside: [!]

My bargain lead just quit. It’s not the best fit for our Gardener, as it requires a lot of stock rotation (he’s not as young as he used to be and some of those coffee table books are heavy) but maybe…

“No, we’re not replacing the Bargain Lead either. Your merchandise manager can assume those roles; you need to demote and reclass your Gardener.”

aside: The merchandise manager, a full-time 45-hour a week job, can of course assume all the responsibilities of what used to be another, full-time 40-hour a week job. Love you, corporate overlords: way to plan!

But — you know, one reason he was so willing to work full time is he needs the income to suppliment…

“No. Move him to one of our corporate-designated full-time roles, or cut his hours, or fire him”

##

About the only full-time positions left are head cashiers. This is a different skill-set, and someone who is a fabulous bookseller and very good with customers can’t automatically transition to a role where the primary needs are speed, absolute accuracy, politely saying “no” to customers [nearly every merchandise return has at least one “no” lurking in it, even when we do say yes], and above all: speed.

If a customer has to wait in line too long, often they just drop their books and go home.

So the head cashier job wasn’t the best fit for our Gardener. We had to laterally move him into that role, however, because it was the “only” [only in quotes because the corporate rules are arbitrary] full-time job we had available. After a few weeks, we knew, absolutely knew it wasn’t going to work out for the best.

Above my head, higher levels of management were building up a paper trail, practically licking their lips at the prospect of firing this man — a bookseller with nearly as much experience as I have and who in fact may be better than me at customer service — all because we are letting stupid rules of business get in the way of actually doing our jobs.

Fortunately this little anecdote has a happy though slightly bittersweet ending. This particular employee (not being stupid and so seeing the writing on the wall, and after some small changes in his personal finances) was finally able to accept a demotion, and went from “full-time” to “part-time”

The change is semantic (with a slightly lower hourly wage) as my store is still short-staffed and he ends up working close to full-time anyway, 30-35hrs a week. But it checks off a box, makes corporate HR happy, and moves the company closer to being a retailer that only hires minimum wage, part time staff for all positions.

##

My Gardener isn’t actually a gardener; his expertise was in other subjects. [some details changed and of course, name withheld]

But the story is true, and is being repeated with hundreds of people as my employer, a major retail chain, desperately tries to cut costs. Payroll is the easiest cost to cut.

But “Productivity Gains” are a paper illusion, and cuts in staffing save payroll dollars but also incur other costs. In retail, when you cut staff you negatively impact the customer experience. People leave because they don’t like waiting in line at the register. In a bookstore, customers wander and flop about and wait for a bookseller to engage them, and if no one walks up and asks, they’re more likely to leave than to go to the information desk and ask for help
[RocketBomber, 21 Jan 2011: “Hell of a way to run a railroad”]

…to say nothing of some other by-the-way-mentions: Our Music Dept. manager did in fact quit. (We’re being pressured right now to move the last remaining full-time music staffer down to part time.) The Bargain Dept. lead was first moved into a new Digital role (selling e-readers) but then also quit — the decision to not replace the Bargain Lead position came first, though, and she really was too good for us. I was hoping we’d be able to promote her to a manager role…

Well, that goes back two years, though, when we cut our Management Team from 9 to 8… and then to 7, when the Music Manager quit… and then to six, when an Assistant Store manager who happened to be a National Guardsman was called up right before the holidays and we [I say “we” but you know what I mean] made the decision not to replace him for payroll reasons and work November & December [in retail!] with only 6 managers — only 4 of whom have keys and codes to the building.

…all while we went from 3 head cashiers down to 2 — and while our parent corp. was moving into digital and introducing a whole new specialty department — and while shifts in product mix and space-allocation necessitated whole-scale moves of the actual books.

I’m at the point now, where for at least 4 hours every shift, I’m the only person in the building who can authorize a customer return, open the back door for shipping/receiving, troubleshoot tech problems on the e-readers (because of course customers call the store, not the 1-800 number), backup the registers OR customer service [gods forbid I have to do both at the same time], while also handling any escalated customer ‘concerns’, fielding phone calls from aspiring authors who just want to know “how to get my book stocked in your stores”, and…

…oh, I don’t know… maybe recommending a book or two.

Some of my complaints are store specific. For example, two weeks ago — after a manager was fired — another manager was taking time off to visit his cancer specialist out of state, our National Guardsman was still off on “training”, and suddenly for 4 days we had to run a multi-million dollar storefront with just 2 managers — just 2 people with keys and codes to open and close the building, a retail business open for 14 hours each day.

Corporate had no way of knowing that we were down to just two managers at that point. Unless, you know, they were actually paying attention. This was the result of years of, “oh, it’s just a small change – they’ll cope”

Until we can’t.

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If I owned my own business I wouldn’t be nearly as frazzled. I’d be working more hours, sure — likely 60-70 hours a week, if not more — but I wouldn’t have to put up with the added help of our corporate office. I could assign staff according to their strengths, not arbitrary HR codes, and I could empower booksellers to handle the sorts of things that currently require a ‘manager’.

If I worked just about anywhere else that wasn’t retail, I’d have weekends off. I wouldn’t have to go into work at 7am unless I chose to [working flextime] and I could go home at 5pm. [or 3, if I came in at 7] — sure, a salary job means taking on special projects and working extra hours and maybe even weekends; a tech job wouldn’t be any better as far as hours. I might be asked to work nights and weekends. But I’d be asked, and not [necessarily] required. And if I were working Friday nights, I wouldn’t have to pick up the phone at 9pm to answer book availability questions, “Oh, and how late is your store open tonight?”

Booksellers get absolutely no respect. On the rare occasions that we point out that maybe, just maybe the shopping public is being a bit unreasonable — there is an immediate smack-down calling us entitled, condescending, elitist, “hipster”, and also personally responsible for the degradation of the stores that forced, forced our customers to shop online.

Please.

This past year is the hardest I’ve ever worked, and while I don’t want to get into an argument with folks who roll steel or repair roofs in August, I also don’t want to be scolded by folks who have a desk chair at work to suck it up, after all, it’s just retail.

##

For the first time in more than ten years, I’m faced with a career choice.

Sadly, for the first time I’m also faced with the prospect of giving up a job I love.

Yes, despite all my complaints — I love my job. In fact, I might say that my complaints are only the most obvious evidence that *I love my job*. If I did not care, I would not grumble, I would not strive to make it work, I would not have written hundreds of thousands of words on the topic, I would merely collect my paycheck until the time comes to move on, and then I’d move on.

I hope to be a bookseller for a long time to come; I’d love to retire from my corporate employer after decades of service, after which I’d only work part-time — say 20 hours a week — as a bookseller.

Bookselling has, for the last decade, been a constant challenge for me. I have embraced it. I’m going to miss it.

It is not my customers — no matter how frustrating they’ve become — that drives me to the point where I have to decide: it’s my employer. Corporate is flopping about, throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks, cutting all the costs they can [though to date it seems the only costs they’ve found are the payroll expenses] and generally, making my life impossible. Only through concentrated effort on the part of myself and my fellow booksellers have we managed to make the impossible merely difficult.

For ten years — before finding the bookstore — I wandered, Lost. For the past ten years, I’ve found a home. And now, with academic credentials 15 years old and a resume poisoned by the same corporate decisions that will force me into unemployment, I look at the worst job market in 50 years and shudder.

If I choose to stick with bookstores to the very bitter end, I hope you understand.

I don’t know what’s next. I no longer look forward to taking on a new job. And yet, I know I need a change.

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Even in my hobbies [if you can call the blog a hobby] I’ve been static for way too long. Some changes have already taken place, other changes are in the works.

Unfortunately I have a suspicion that in 5 years, I will be homeless; laptop in tow, mooching electricity and wifi wherever one can, updating constantly, an idiot telling his tales full of sound and fury, etc etc.

Sadly, I’m prepared. I’ve been buying less and paring back on my personal possessions [over the past 3 moves into new apartments] and buying new laptops as required to optimize battery life, overall weight, and usability. My next [last?] laptop will likely be a chromebook, as I move the last physical bits online.

Between now and then…

Well.

Before the end of the year I’m going to launch one last website, where I start writing the long delayed fantasy novel in the only way I know how: as a blog.

And: I will go down with the ship. Assuming the pilot steering this craft can’t avoid the iceberg we’ve all seen coming and chart a new course, I’ll be there to lend a hand, to help you step over the rail and into your lifeboat, to bring a round of drinks to the band as they play the final set before the whole enterprise upends and sinks beneath the waves. I’ll be there to cry, since no one else will mourn.

And: I have one more really good idea about how to run a bookstore – a national chain, a competitor for both online and e-. No one listens, but I’ll make the best case I can.

And of course I buy a lottery ticket every week. So there is some hope.

(personally, I’m not sure which is the less-likely millions-to-one shot: bookstores, or the lottery)

If you are a radio DJ — or at least if you once were a radio DJ, these days I swear at least half the stations run tape instead of a live broadcast, and the other half run 50 stations all playing the same thing off of a satellite feed — anyway, if you were a radio DJ the only cardinal sin you could commit is to stop talking.

There were things that would get you fired, or fined by the FCC (Carlin’s 7 words, for example — but if that’s your schtick you have an engineer with fast reflexes to beep you). You HAD to play ads, so many each hour, and at designated times, ‘cause that kept the lights on and the broadcast tower humming, and of course, paid your paycheck. Depending on the format and on management, there are no doubt other rules — but only one sin: Dead Air.

If you stop broadcasting entirely, your listeners are going to change the channel. You can play music (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida buys you 17 whole minutes) or turn an hour over to the interns, or get the janitor to tell knock-knock jokes — doesn’t matter so long as you’re still on the air.

As bloggers, some of us shy away from filler posts, or look a bit askance at blogs with too many image posts or embedded videos, especially if that’s all that’s on a blog (there’s a tumblr for that). I like to write longer essays, myself: gives me room to think and expand (and ramble and digress) and I feel posts like those are my best work for the blog, and one of my contributions to the internet, culture, and society.

But one can’t always muster up a long essay, on demand, week after week (at least, I can’t)

Only one sin: dead air. Keep writing — but more importantly, keep posting.

If one were to go to the most recently updated Manga Rankings [by clicking the HTML link in the left sidebar of the appropriate archive.org page] one might notice a subtle change to the usual headers.

Actually, you wouldn’t notice because hardly anyone actually goes to my carefully curated archived charts, having gleaned all the information you really wanted from the top 10 summaries I post to the blog. So I’m going to pull it out and rub your face in it explain to the masses just what changed:

Instead of my self-imposed data diet (trimming back to just the 3 main web sites — B&N, Borders, and Amazon — a necessary step I took back in May else I would never have caught up to date on these damn things) I’m now back up to 8 web sites — nine sources if you consider I count Amazon twice.

Each website works differently, and the subjective quality of the data I’m able to scrape from each means that I treat them all differently. But that’s part of what makes the hobby so interesting.

All current sources for the rankings, from 14 August and for the foreseeable future, are:

Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-Million, Buy.com, Chapters, Hastings, Powells, Amazon’s Graphic Manga Category Listings & their Manga Hourly Bestsellers

Please note: these aren’t necessarily the best web sites for manga (I personally shop from an actual store, but when shopping online I often use RightStuf.com) but all have one thing in common: a manga category that can be sorted, data that can be mined & added to my massive steam-powered clockwork spreadsheets that spit out the weekly charts.

I still need to update the charts FAQ, but wanted to drop this to the main blog first.

Microsoft was founded by a college dropout — but to be fair, Harvard was the college and Gates was very smart going in.

Apple was founded by a college dropout – though, it should be granted, both Jobs & Woz did summer interships at HP [and other things – look at wikipedia].

Facebook was founded while Zuckerberg was still a student,

Google was founded by students,

Dell Computers was founded by a student,

Yahoo [which was big once, don’t knock it] was founded by students,

and — dare I pull in some old media for you? Len Riggio founded the company that would become bookseller chain Barnes & Noble while still a student at NYU, way back in 1965

So.

Tax breaks to millionaires do not create jobs. Tax breaks to millionaires do not create new companies, whole new industries, whole new product categories, and whole new ways of life.

If one were serious about creating jobs and not just scoring points with one’s political donors, instead of making sure the top marginal tax rates are now and always will be below 25% — one would invest in the brains that create jobs.

Gates dropped out of Harvard but had an excellent education up to that point — Yahoo and Google both were founded by graduate students — Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had the advantage of being in right place at the right time, sure [hard to replicate 1976 Silicon Valley] but they also happened to be students in the Silicon Valley, Berkeley for Woz, Homestead High School in Cupertino itself for Jobs.

Instead of tax cuts for the rich that some claim are the job creators, how about we extend a helping hand to those that actually have a proven track record of inventing whole new American industries?

How about we invest in education, and provide a college education to *all* without the massive debt currently required.

How many Apples, Googles, Facebooks, and Dells would have been established if a smart college kid could borrow $100,000 to start up a new company right after she graduates, instead of being forced to borrow that $100K up front just to get through school?

So many missed opportunities. Sure, some companies founded by the smart young kids would fail — this is different how? — but it would be up to them whether or not they could make it work.

For such a small amount of money, we could make sure the kids get into university, and through grad school if they have the talent and the drive. AND THEN these best-and-brightest could assume hundreds of thousands in debt, *not* to pay for school but to create new companies, new industries, and new jobs.

I might suppose that the only reason we don’t provide a free college [and post graduate] education for worthy, qualifying students is because that would make us socialists — dirty, dirty socialists with more free-enterprise startups than we could manage, with more good-paying jobs for college graduates, and a way to enable a whole generation to create, invent, and prosper rather than loading them down with debt that forces them to make compromises and just make do for at least two decades — long enough to burn out their hopes, dreams, and entrepreneurial spirit.

And of course, we’d be able to do that not just for this generation, but the next and the next and the next one, you know, the one that cures cancer, colonizes Mars, and does fabulous things we haven’t even dreamed of yet. All that and a bag of chips, for the in-context-minimal cost of 4-to-6 years for a kid at a university.

It would be like the economic benefit of the 1950s GI Bill but available for all generations and snowballing into perpetuity.

Of course I’m bitter because I worked through school (and asked WAY too much of my parents) and didn’t have the benefit of this myself — but, economically speaking, why are college costs disproportionately borne by students when it costs so little for the government to provide this, and when it means so much to both our culture and our economy?

So.

Hm.

Let me start by saying I am an angry man. Bitter. Single, with very few close friends (and those from my college days – we have all moved on, some quite literally to other cities) and even with my close friends: we’re not that close.

I am far from a workaholic — in fact, I’ve settled [to an extent] in my career, in as much as I voluntarily work retail.

But I work retail because I love books, and a long-standing dream of mine has been to work in a bookstore, and eventually own one. I’m living the dream; the customers are a necessary evil to be endured.

It might be different if I were a “people person”, the gregarious sort who loves to talk and meet people and ask what they’ve read and what they’re reading, who has a beaming smile to great each and every customer.

I am an introvert, almost violently so, and while I don’t hate people, I much prefer to watch them than interact with them. I can spend hours (days) alone, in my apartment, with my books, and my comics, and cartoons on DVD.

And I’m happy.

It’s not that I need to get out and meet people. I don’t need to ‘try this single’s group, I think you might be surprised’ or ‘just go to a couple of these events, what can you lose’ or ‘just meet people’.

I am not unhappy because I’m alone — I wasn’t unhappy at all, but now I’m unhappy because I’m being forced out of my comfortable nest, I’m being forced to meet people, being forced to make small talk.

I hate small talk.

I’m not just unhappy, I’m annoyed. And I’m getting angrier.

##

How does an introvert and borderline hikikomori cope in a retail job, interacting with people for 8 or 9 hours at a time?

It’s an act. I’m faking it.

You know that one clerk at the bookstore, who always smiles and is polite, with just the right guiding questions, who seems to have read everything? The one you hope is working whenever you go into the store, the one you seek out because he always knows the book even when you can’t remember the title or author? He seems so interesting — if only you could get him to talk a bit more, he surely knows all sorts of things, and must have dozens of good recommendations…

Yeah. That might be me.

I’m polite, but I don’t mean it. Smiling makes my face hurt. And when I walk away after handing you the exactly right book it’s not just because I’m busy (…but I am busy) — I walk away because I don’t like people. Not You; not especially or particularly you, anyway: I don’t like everyone.

…and I know so much about books because I compulsively research everything — I crave data and information like some folks crave chocolate, I might even go so far as to say I need it. I love the internet, it’s chock full of information, it’s a godsend for people like me.

Between the undiagnosed Auspergers, an odd-but-nearly-photographic memory, and a lifetime spent reading: I am perfectly suited to answer stupid book questions; uniquely qualified, in fact. That’s part of the package deal: I’m an introvert, I’m a booklover, I collect and synthesize data as easily as breathing – while retaining enough social skills to be able to hold a job, and to deal with customers.

It doesn’t mean I like it, it just means I _can_.

It is exhausting to act for 9 hours straight. And to do it well enough that no one guesses you’re playing a role, that you’d much rather be at home, alone, reading and not the sunny smile and bright light who lives for customer service.

It doesn’t take much to get on my bad side at work, because I’m already way outside my comfort zone. And it certainly doesn’t help that I’m the manager, so after one of my booksellers makes an honest mistake, or just rubs a customer the wrong way, I’m the one who has to step in and ‘make things right’.

So after a long day at work I’m exhausted from Acting Like An Extrovert, and likely annoyed because of stupid questions, and occasionally grumpy because quite a few customers just suck and there’s no human way possible to make some people happy.

##

I’m not as smart as I wish I were, likely not even as smart as I think I am. (The internet can be humbling; there is always someone smarter than you on the ‘net.) I’m certainly not as witty a writer as I think I am, though I can’t help writing.

And while I don’t enjoy personal interaction, it seems I crave attention on the internet. Maybe it’s the fact that people are removed from the equation: you’re a handle, a nickname, an 100×100 pic and 140-character description. I see URLs and IP addresses in a hit log, not readers. So many hits per day, per month; Google Analytics even gives me graphs.

I did mention I love data. The internet is a game I can play, not a community to be engaged, not a relationship.

##

So here’s the problem:

I’m not a great wit for the ages; I might not even have much to contribute. But I want to play this game — and I can do it from my cave, alone, with beer: It’s Great!

But I have to wonder, even given my dim awareness of societal norms, if I’m doing it right.

I’m sure there are times I’ve just been annoying. Like a little kid wanting in on the grown up conversation, and with as much earnestness and enthusiasm, but also not knowing the rules.

That, and I’m an alcoholic — which is unrelated (even sober I’d still be an introvert) but which occasionally leads to bad judgement.

AND I’m angry. Work makes me angry, bitter, and tired — and being tired also occasionally leads to bad judgement.

I’m thinking it would be best to stop playing the ‘internet game’, at least when it comes to social media. Stick to writing, and data analysis, and my own little projects. Respond when asked questions directly, but give up my attempts to be followed, to be read, to be noticed. Because even on the internet, these new tools still represent personal relationships. Because especially on the internet, it’s far too easy to be a newb, or a troll, or a spammer, or just plain annoying.

In other words, on the ‘net I fear I’ve become much too much like the customers I hate in the store.

##

I will still be on twitter, as it is an excellent way to broadcast links to a self-selected audience, and maybe on Google+ [though Google+ seems too much like Facebook to be of use to me]. But I don’t know that I will ‘be on twitter’ quite as much. Not in the ‘having an online conversation’ sense.

It’s not that I don’t like you anymore, or that I’ve come down with a dread disease and can’t be online. I just don’t think it’s working for me, and it wastes a lot of time.

Even online, it seems, I am an introvert.

##

I don’t need feedback on this; I wasn’t looking for sympathy or asking to be argued out of this. I recognize behaviours I don’t like, and which I’d like to stop. I know some will see me withdrawing and will interpret that as something different, me saying I don’t like them.

For that: I’m sorry, it’s not your fault.

To those I’ve drunkenly tweeted at 1am: I’m sorry, that was my fault.

To those I’ve inadvertently spammed: I’m sorry, but that link/site/story/video seemed really funny at the time.

To those who followed me for the reviews, or analysis, or insightful essays, and who then had to follow me through drunken rants and long asides, and personal digressions: I’m not really sorry, as that is *me* and I’m a package deal, I can’t (or won’t) set up separate channels for everything.

I already have a separate site for reviews, booknom.net, which gets criminally ignored most weeks [I’m working on that] and I have one other site launching before the end of summer [something completely different] — but Rocket Bomber is _me_, with the lumps and the books and beer and the comics and the graphs all inclusive. I can’t figure out how to parse that, and won’t unless someone pays me to do so.

[if you would like to pay me to produce content you can specify whatever you’d like]

So, Summary:

I am an angry man, and a drunk, and I do far too much sharing on the internet.
I apologize for past transgressions, but not really, and can only provide the barest placative: that I know I’ve been annoying and am attempting to not — I can’t correct the behaviour, but I can stop.

And if you see less of me on twitter, now you know why.

I’m not going to bother with rumor-launching headlines or search-engine grabbing keywords or stock symbols & name-dropping, and all that tech blog buzz that clogs up most talk of ebooks and devices. This is just a quiet little post — a shared secret between me and my regular readers. You know, I don’t think I’ll even publicize this, past posting it to the blog.

##

It’s rather amazing what one can find on the internet, if you know where to look. I rather enjoy looking at the want ads.

no, not for Atlanta. [Have a job; kinda love it actually — I get to spend 40 hours a week with books. Even the bad stuff is “good” after a fashion as it is continual fodder for blog posts.]

Instead of looking for a new job, I like to look at jobs available in Palo Alto, CA. Did you know Barnes & Noble Digital is based in Palo Alto? [of course you do, I told you myself like a year ago. How quickly we forget…]

So what’s up in Palo Alto?
[note: links below valid as of 9PM EST 17 May 2011 – but these are job listings, and not permanent web pages.]

They’re looking for the usual, scarce talent (in fact, they’re also hiring headhunters…) and in the usual flavours — Android, Flash, Webkit, Bug fixes & OS optimization — past the usual, though, it starts to get really interesting.

Senior Services Delivery Engineer

“The B&N Cloud Services team in Palo Alto has built a brand new set of services which the NOOKcolor device is using for several functions including eBook browsing, searching, and purchasing, as well as social networking features. Bring your skills and experience in data center automation to minimize downtime, improve the code deployment process, and expand automation in all areas.”

Why, I had no idea B&N had a Cloud Services team. What else are we going to find?

Senior Java Cloud Services Developer

“if you are a Java Software Engineer with back end development experience or a Java Senior Server Engineer who has solved complex scalability, performance, and or optimization issues, then this position should interest you! We are working on designing and operating a highly optimized mobile services platform and we are looking for Java server engineers that have a strong background in core platform server development to join the team.”

So Java engineers to work on the servers — but for what?

Business Development Manager, 3rd Party Apps & Services

just wait until you read the job description:

“The primary objective in this role is to manage and grow key business partnerships, especially in the areas of music and video…” and “Contribute to the development and refinement of Barnes & Noble’s strategy around media & digital content.”

And then there’s this listing:

Product Manager, Mobile Clients

“The Product Manager for Mobile Clients is responsible for the product planning and execution throughout the product lifecycle for Barnes & Noble Nook eReader mobile client software. This includes gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, defining the product vision, and working closely with the content acquisition teams, product marketing, engineering and customer service to ensure that revenue and customer satisfaction goals are met. The Product Manager’s job also includes ensuring that the product supports the company’s overall strategy and goals.” [emphasis mine]

and

iOS Developer (iphone, objecitve C)

“Join the eReading and eCommerce eVolution. Simply put, building great software is the most important thing we do at BN.com. Whether it’s our eBookstore, our fastest growing product line, offering content on multiple mobile platforms, or continuing to grow our award-winning eCommerce shopping platform, you will personally have the opportunity to build software solutions used by millions of customers. In our NYC and Palo Alto offices, we’re making significant investments to create a world-class team of Software Engineers, Architects, and Technical Leads who will thrive in our solution-focused, collaborative culture.

***We are looking to hire multiple iOS consultants and employees for a major initiative***” [emphasis in original listing]

Oh my, that does sound exciting. That was first posted 13 days ago. [4 May 2011]
edit: or *reposted* at that point in time. Here’s the thing: I can’t find confirmation of the above job posting at the official corporate site so I’m thinking this is an undeleted artefact from at least 30 months ago, before the original B&N iPhone app launched. Note the different tone used, and the reference to “significant investment” rather than to the currently-up-and-running B&N Digital division. Still, the cloud stuff and video content could be cool, even without a new iPad app. [/endnote]

##

The Nook Color won’t be standing still:

Hardware Design Engineer

“Candidate will be responsible for architecture and design of current and next generation B&N e-readers. Engineer will be responsible for schematic of design and choice of key components in conjunction with JDM manufacturer in Asia. Responsible for supervision of pcb layout as well as board level BOM. Definition of all testing and analysis of prototype systems. Work with JDM to bring up and debug system level boards. Work with mechanical designers to define form factor and clearances. Manage JDM regarding support in the areas of layout and signal integrity testing. Work as a team lead or senior designer in a team of 2-3 EE’s per project”

Platform Multimedia Engineer

“Barnes and Noble are searching for world-class software engineers to join the Android platform development team. In your role you will be responsible for the design, implement, and optimize multimedia system software for Barnes and Noble’s NOOKcolor product line leveraging its hardware acceleration and enabling cutting edge digital media use cases in the areas of audio, video, and image playback and capture. Advanced use cases include HD content delivery and playback leveraging streaming video and encryption, video telephony, etc.” [awkward grammar in original listing. Ooo, not so professional — hope they fix that, or fill this position (these positions) soon.]

tantalizing hardware and features aside, I also like the fact that B&N will be paying to make it look good:

Art Director

“The Art Director is responsible for driving the creative vision, direction and development of all visual design assets for Barnes & Noble, Digital Products. This person is responsible for conceptualizing the visual identity of our digital products, as well as ensuring visual and brand consistency across all experiences. The Art Director also manages the Design Team, providing creative direction and hands on support to digital artists, ensuring their workload is manageable and the output is high quality and on brand.”

##

These are just job listings, and reflect expectations & required skill sets: not actual job responsibilities or finished products. I’d be reading a lot into these if I were to extrapolate future hardware or applications just from a handful of classified ads that are likely going to disappear soon anyway.

Oh, but it’s fun to guess.

Here’s one I should probably apply for

Executive Assistant

“Be a part of the digital reading evolution! Since its debut, NOOK and the Barnes & Noble.com eBookstore have received accolade upon accolade from the most well-respected technology and consumer electronic pubs in the industry. We’ve assembled a team of the top thought leaders in Software Architecture, Product Management, Consumer Electronics, Supply Chain and Mobile technology. At NOOK’s epicenter… our growing Palo Alto office has an opportunity for an Executive Administrative Assistant with a track record of success supporting Engineering Executives. In this individual contributor role, based in Palo Alto, CA, you’ll be responsible for supporting the success of 2 engineering executives and their teams.”

—except I’m a book seller, have been for 10 years. I’m probably not qualified ;)