Oct. 25--Seek and ye shall find just about any type of consumer goods online at eBay, Amazon.com, Craigslist.com and more.

Online comparison shopping saves time, not to mention a trip to the local Barnes & Noble. But is it good for the soul?

"It's tragic," said Carl Honore, author of "In Praise of Slowness," a worldwide best seller that has been translated into more than 30 languages.

"I think what we're losing -- going to a 'search-and-find' from a 'browse-and-discover' culture -- is life in a different gear. Browsing creates a much richer, [more] nuanced, textured way of life."

True browsing is akin to window shopping. It's not about racing from store to store looking for the best price on that high-def television, but instead about heading to an electronics store just to check out all the cool stuff.

The recent announcement that Barnes & Noble will close its popular Squirrel Hill location at the end of the year was met with dismay by anyone who's ducked in for 15 minutes before a movie, or after dessert at Gullifty's restaurant across Murray Avenue.

"We have replaced leisure time with consumer time, we've subverted it," said Roger Mannell, a psychologist and a professor in the recreation and leisure studies department at Ontario's University of Waterloo.

The brain needs down time, he said, and browsing opens up creative possibilities. It's not unusual to find customers at Blockbuster video stores who have rental accounts online, but simply enjoy the idea of wandering through the stacks to see if something catches their fancy.

Studies have shown there are differences in the general way men and women shop; the latter are much more likely to browse.

"We [men] expect it to be a surgical strike. You identify your target and go buy it," said Mr. Honore, who lives in London and also has written a book on "slow" parenting.

Which, he said, does not mean men don't enjoy browsing. Nor does it mean that a fast-paced life is necessarily a bad one.

"It's not about saying 'no' to Facebook, but striking a balance," he said. "We are kind of marinating in a state of fast culture when we ratchet everything up into roadrunner mode."

"I think everyone is in too much of a hurry; they just don't 'have the time,' " said Pittsburgh's Harriet Kistler, who was shopping at the Bethel Park Borders book store last week.

Miss Kistler said she had a couple of discount coupons, which led to her browsing the stacks at Borders. But she had no specific titles in mind, a luxury that allowed her to let the eye wander.