The problem with Amazon

Amazon is basically brilliant, I can buy pretty much any book, at much lower prices than on the high street at the click of a button. But it's stranglehold on the market is killing off my beloved bookshops, especially the smaller, independent ones and the secondhand bookshops with their lovely old book smell.
There was an article in this week's paper about how Waterstone's had killed off the competition (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/10/waterstones-high-street-bookselling), but the chain faces competition itself, from supermarkets with their ridiculously low prices, from super-chains like American giant Borders, and online retailers, specifically the monster that is Amazon.
I like bookshops, I've blogged about charity shops, and they too have become a problem for independent secondhand and antiquarian bookshops. Something I also feel bad about, there's nothing quite like a shop devoted to out of print and ancient texts, with that warm musty smell of slowly yellowing paper and leather bindings, libraries seem to have lost that, which is a shame.
I walked down Charing Cross Road not too long ago, and where there were once many little independent shops, there are fewer and fewer all the time. Seen off by over-competitive pricing in Tesco and Waterstone's 3 for 2 promotions. It's far from the street depicted in Helene Hanff's gorgeous 84, Charing Cross Road, which is a hymn to the independent bookseller.
Yes, buying from independent shops or directly from small publishers is more expensive, and no I'm not immune to Amazon's power, but part of me mourns the lost of those sometimes dusty, charming bookshops, full of character, where you might just stumble across a masterpiece you never knew existed.
The Waterstone's article sparked a bit of a debate, with it's chairman coming out in defence of the 100 year old company (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/12/waterstones-passion-always-books), and I do think the Piccadilly branch, with it's five floors of mostly books, is rather wonderful. But it seems to be almost the only option for book buying that isn't online. And that's rather depressing. I don't want it to be a choice of one shop or Amazon, I want to be able to browse several shops, hunting out the right edition, deciding whether I want the older cover or the shiny new one.
We live in a digital age, I appreciate that (look where I'm writing this), but while the physical book reigns supreme (the anti-electronic reader rant I'll save for another post), only being able to use digital bookshops takes away the fun of seeking out the perfect novel. I know Amazon isn't the only option, there's Abe Books or the Book Depository for starters, it is the dominant one. It's also often the cheapest, fastest option. Albeit not one without controversy (again, that's another post for another day).
I'm not sure what to do, I order books from Amazon, knowing I will probably have them by the end of the week, while knowing full well that each time I click 'submit order' I'm helping sound the death knell for independent retailers and small publishers who cannot compete. It's a dilemma that's becoming more and more frequent as we slowly turn away from brick and mortar to cyber shopping.