I bought a really crappy book at Indigo. It's called the Cult of the Amateur, by Andrew Keen, and it is all about how the internet is killing everything, how bloggers like me are "unencumbered by pesky ethical restraints or bothersome editorial boards" unlike those poor professionals like Terence Corcoran or Rush Limbaugh, that newspapers are being killed by free news, Tower Records by illegal downloads, or bookstores by Amazon and free print.

I bought it at Indigo for C$ 29.95. The label says the American price is US$ 22.95- I am paying 30% more when our dollar is worth half a cent more than the American dollar. I ask the sales clerk if there is not a discount because of this. He smiles and says, no, the prices are set by the distributor and there is nothing he can do, we are trying but are really sorry.

Right. This is Indigo, where the best sellers are at the front door 30% off, the publishers didn't tell Heather what to charge for them. This is Indigo, which is bigger than any distributor in Canada and can dictate its terms. This is Indigo, which like every other bookstore, (I used to own a piece of one) runs on credit and is paying for that book in today's Canadian dollars now, not six months ago when it was ordered.

Andrew Keen got everything wrong in this book; the internet didn't kill CD's or bookstores, they did it to themselves by thinking they could do this kind of shit because we have no options.

The internet gives us those options; I am not buying another book in Indigo until I am offered the American price in Canadian dollars. I will go to the library, or buy from audible or ereader. or wait until I am next in the States, but in the words of Roger Daltrey, we won't get fooled again.