Amazon Opens First Brick-and-Mortar Bookstore in Seattle, Proving E-Books Aren't Taking Over

The opening of Amazon.com's first brick-and-mortar store on Tuesday proves that software is not really "eating the world," as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen put it in 2011. Retail stores are still not strictly necessary, and yet Amazon now has one in Seattle. That's because the book market has proved less one-dimensional than publishers and sellers feared in 2010 and 2011.

Today's book market is far more complex and multifaceted than it was 15 years ago. It's safe to say software hasn't destroyed it but instead forced all of its participants to play to their strengths.