Spine-out doesn't facilitate browsing, so I can't see why this is a bad thing. More books doesn't equate more options or a better experience.
> and prominently featuring the opinions of exemplary randos.
Fantastically dismissive, but the book buyer is also a "rando," so it's a useful metric.
> The store selection is populist, elevating aggregate user ratings; the author’s name is, notably, the smallest thing on each card.
The only problem I see is that it doesn't need to be there at all. It's prominently featured on the cover of the actual book, right above the card.
As you walk in the first thing you see is a sign that says, more or less: "all books are list price unless you're an Amazon Prime member". Which is not something that influences me in a positive way. They're basically saying I need to pay them $99/year to shop there.
Not that I'd want to shop there. I just don't see the point. As this article notes, there is very very little physical inventory. You can play with Kindles. Maybe that's the point?
Amazon has never managed to come anywhere close to the joy and value of accidental discovery that you can have from browsing the categorized shelves at a well-stocked bookstore, or better yet a university library. They've never even really tried as far as I can tell, so I guess it's not a surprise that their attempt at a physical bookstore would miss one of its biggest advantages.