Will the Master’s Tools Dismantle the Master’s House?

A new app that uses Amazon’s search function to find independent book stores hopes so.
Created to be easy to install and use right on your web browser, the app bookindy App, promotes independent book stores using the very site that is designed to put small book sellers out of business. The ingenious device, which installs directly to Chrome browsers, monitors your searches on Amazon and then finds the same book in local book shops. It even tells you how far you are from the nearest store and whether the book can be found for a lower price at a brick and mortar store.

The company’s slogan, “browse Amazon, buy independent” is designed to appeal to book lovers who are uncomfortable with Amazon’s practices of squeezing small publishers and shops out of the business. Whether buyers will be willing to give up…