Computer books

[James Knott]

Peter Hiscocks wrote:
> I'd agree that the collections at Indigo and Chapters are pretty useless for
> serious reading in computer science.
> 
> However, as far as the sale of computer books is concerned, you will recall
> that Toronto Computer Books, which used to be on Yonge south of Wellesley,
> had a very good collection and seemed to be well run. They couldn't make it
> as a business, so it may be that it's too much of a specialty topic to be
> viable.
> 
> You can argue that the big bookstores (which were carrying many of the same
> titles at that time) put them out of business, but even so, it's evidently
> not hugely profitable.

I shopped at those Computer Books stores frequently.  There were a few 
around the area.  As I recall, they lost out to Chapters, back when 
Chapters had a good selection.  In fact, I seem to recall that at one 
point, Chapters had a better selection.  It is possible to survive in a 
niche business, but difficult if a larger company decides to go after 
the same business.  If Chapters had only sold the low end (i.e. consumer 
level)books they now carry, those Computer Book stores might still be 
around.  As I recall, they didn't have much in the low end range, aiming 
more at the professional and educational markets.  There's also the 
other side of the coin, where Indigo & Chapters are essentially the 
Canadian market and have enough strength that they can start dictating 
terms to the publishers, with the end result that some of the publishers 
are hurting.  It's just like the situation where suppliers can't afford 
to deal with Walmart, but can't afford not to.
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