ZDNetAsia points out that although American online booksellers are not performing up to expectations, similar sites in Asia are expecting their variations on the online business model will bring in profits. Myepb.com started out online and then opened a supporting physical store. MPH Online is counting on their strong brand name and domain knowledge to give them a big head start in cyberspace. Acmabooks.com is sticking to online only, but differs from Amazon in not investing in any warehousing infrastructure. I suppose the ol’ survival of the fittest model will determine which scenarios will succeed. (And my HCI training is nagging “doesn’t it matter which sites are the easiest and friendliest to use?”)