5 ms·

I love bookshops but I don't know if enough people do for them to be sustained. One thing is for sure: working tech people don't buy technical books in stores.

I love bookshops but I don't know if enough people do for them to be sustained. One thing is for sure: working tech people don't buy technical books in stores. The main bookshop in Dublin stocked a host of technical books for years. It was an odd mix, but they tried to curate it in a reasonable way. They would have things like K&R and odd volumes of TAOCP and Eloquent Javascript - as well iPhone 6 for dummies... But they gave it up a year ago and now only stock things absolutely required for technical coursework in the University. I'd love if there was a really well stocked, well curated technical bookshop in Dublin. I thought a shop like that with working terminals and a "learning" vibe would be lovely. But given what I've seen I don't think there's enough of a market.

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dredmorbius 6y ago
Virtually every tech / professional bookstore I'm aware of has folded. In the Bay Area, Stacey's (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=423524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=423524, Cody's (Berkeley), Books Inc. (Palo Alto, Univ. Ave.), and names since forgotten in Cupertino (another Stacey's possibly) and N. 1st Ave. in San Jose. As well as chains, notably Borders.
SketchySeaBeast 6y ago
I imagine it'd be an inventory nightmare as well - online documentation barely keeps up with what's current. What do you do with last years books?
52-6F-62 6y ago
Several bookstores have been sustaining themselves in Toronto for some time now. We've lost some old favourites over time like World's Biggest Bookstore [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore] But there are several great ones that remain. Some offer online book shopping now, others require physical presence. Some of my favourites, and as far as I know they're still doing well enough: * BMV [http://www.bmvbooks.com http://www.bmvbooks.com] * Zoinks! [https://zoinks.ca https://zoinks.ca] * Ayerego Books [https://www.ayeregobooks.com https://www.ayeregobooks.com] * ABC Bookstore [https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/ https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/] * Seekers Books [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,-79.405178,16.63z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sbookstore+yorkville+toronto!3m4!1s0x0:0xb560adce0ba3b352!8m2!3d43.6655967!4d-79.4084153 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,...] * Ben McNally Books [https://benmcnallybooks.com https://benmcnallybooks.com] * University of Toronto Bookstore [https://uoftbookstore.com https://uoftbookstore.com] — Of course, we're lucky to have this one downtown. They have a large technical collection as well as pretty well any academic subject taught at U of T.

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dredmorbius 6y ago

Virtually every tech / professional bookstore I'm aware of has folded. In the Bay Area, Stacey's (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=423524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=423524, Cody's (Berkeley), Books Inc. (Palo Alto, Univ. Ave.), and names since forgotten in Cupertino (another Stacey's possibly) and N. 1st Ave. in San Jose. As well as chains, notably Borders.

SketchySeaBeast 6y ago

I imagine it'd be an inventory nightmare as well - online documentation barely keeps up with what's current. What do you do with last years books?

52-6F-62 6y ago

Several bookstores have been sustaining themselves in Toronto for some time now. We've lost some old favourites over time like World's Biggest Bookstore [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Biggest_Bookstore] But there are several great ones that remain. Some offer online book shopping now, others require physical presence. Some of my favourites, and as far as I know they're still doing well enough: * BMV [http://www.bmvbooks.com http://www.bmvbooks.com] * Zoinks! [https://zoinks.ca https://zoinks.ca] * Ayerego Books [https://www.ayeregobooks.com https://www.ayeregobooks.com] * ABC Bookstore [https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/ https://www.blogto.com/bookstores/abc-book-store-toronto/] * Seekers Books [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,-79.405178,16.63z/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sbookstore+yorkville+toronto!3m4!1s0x0:0xb560adce0ba3b352!8m2!3d43.6655967!4d-79.4084153 https://www.google.com/maps/place/Seekers+Books/@43.6657637,...] * Ben McNally Books [https://benmcnallybooks.com https://benmcnallybooks.com] * University of Toronto Bookstore [https://uoftbookstore.com https://uoftbookstore.com] — Of course, we're lucky to have this one downtown. They have a large technical collection as well as pretty well any academic subject taught at U of T.