If I walk into a brick-and-mortar bookstore, I'm doing it with the intention of compensating them for their service - being tangible. I know the book will cost me more then if I bought it online. Anyone does. But I've decided the convenience of perusing the book in person is worth it.

But this just seems... well, wrong. Like you're violating a social contract. If this becomes more pervasive, you're basically telling the in-the-flesh bookstore to confiscate your (and everyone's) phones and electronics on entry, as it's the only way to discourage this behavior.

If you're going to treat the store as a your own personal library... at least go to the library. It's only fair.

I think that's a neat idea. If I wrote it, I would probably have it find the ebook version on whatever sites I buy from... Baen.com, PragProg, Amazon...

The reviews would be especially useful, but I don't see the need for the picture of the reviewer. What they look like doesn't have anything to do with how good their review is unless they have crazy eyes or something. (And even then I wouldn't rule them out. Real crazy will show through in the review.)