Computer books

[Paul King]

I feel the same way. I need to browse through the book also. I would only ever 
buy online if I already know about the book from someplace else (the library 
for example) and have had a good look at it. Some online vendors such as 
O'Reilly compensate by offering sample chapters, but it is not the same as 
actually having the book in your hand and leafing through it. And if it is an 
obscure book I am looking for, the bookstore would probably be about the only 
place I could do that.

And you don't need a huge bookstore to carry a decent range of titles, as the 
Toronto/Mississauga Computer Books proved quite well. The bigbox stores do 
exist in major towns (ie, there is a Chapters here in Oakville), and they 
absolutely do not carry obscure computer titles (they did until they drove the 
local computer bookstores out of business). In fact, the staff are computer 
illiterate unless it is to use the cash register or to do a search for your 
order. 

All you really need is a small to medium-sized bookstore with staff who give a 
darn about what they are selling. Use of a cash register is optional. They can 
collect the money in a shoebox and use a calculator.

Paul

On 16 Jan 2005 at 10:24, James Knott wrote:

> Anthony de Boer wrote:
> > WBB simply proves that you need a huge store to carry a decent range of
> > titles.  If you had "bigbox" bookstores like it in major towns across the
> > country you might be able to deliver that sort of selection by traditional
> > retail; little mall bookshops just aren't going to be able to match what WBB
> > can do, and specialist bookstores (and WBB itself) are too far from too many
> > of their customers.  The online model is going to overtake the retail-store
> > model for wide selections of obscure books, CDs, DVDs, and the like; in fact,
> > it already has.
> > 
> 
> I prefer to browse through a book, before buying.  There are many books 
> that sound good, but when you get into them, you find they're not so good.
> I've discovered books with significant errors that way.
> 
=========================================================
Paul King            http://alimentarus.net
"Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are captains 
of our fate and masters of our soul" -- Unknown


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