4 ms·
Ugh, this is going to sound pretentious, but here goes: When you follow a subject beyond a surface/casual level of understanding there is very little you just
by panzagl 5y ago
Ugh, this is going to sound pretentious, but here goes:
When you follow a subject beyond a surface/casual level of understanding there is very little you just 'discover' at a bookstore, unless it's one of a few specialty shops. You follow journals, publishers' catalogs, and forums which not only keep you current with new releases, but also expose you to back-catalog and out of print material. And nobody beats Amazon for carrying all of that material.
- animal_spirits 5y agoWriting tip, if you think something is going to sound pretentious, then replace all instances of 'you' with 'I'. Usually that will help with the tone. I find I sometimes tend to assume my own personal experiences will match everyone else's experience, which usually is not the case in the end. So, instead of trying to convince people what the "right way" to bookshop is, just give your perspective as another point to the conversation.
- paulcole 5y agoThe part you’re missing is that virtually everyone follows virtually everything at a surface/casual level which keeps that “discovery” alive.
- chucksmash 5y agoIt's not pretentious, it's true. The "Programming" section of chain bookstores would always be not-very-many shelves of "Teach Yourself X in Y Days" or "X for Dummies" books. I don't remember ever seeing any of the seminal books for noobies like "The C Programming Language" or SICP at Barnes & Noble/Borders/Chapter 11.
- calvinmorrison 5y agoI did pickup quite a few good computer related books at The Strand, then again they have millions of books on site to browse. In fact i did get my C programming book there, my awk book and also a fun book called my googlewhack adventure. Also a book by microsoft publishing that gives a bottom to top view of computers (i forget the title) and an absurd Pop-Up book about computers and telecoms in the 80s
- artwr 5y agoWas it Charles Petzold's Code? If so that's a wonderful book.
- panzagl 5y agoIn Bedford MA there was a store called (IIRC) Softpro which was all software/CS/etc. I was sad when it closed, but what good is a store if the only time you can access it is once a quarter when you're in town for a project review?
- Nasrudith 5y agoYeah - it is just a simple matter of numbers as opposed to pretentiouses or humblebragging. The number of people interested in a book is highest for the surface/casual level and it is seldom that there will be enough demand for often expensive and slow to move texts. There isn't much call for say republishing of authenic 19th century surgical technique books. Maybe some casual readers would buy it at a lower price point but almost certainly not if it is several hundred dollars.
- amluto 5y agoI was actually thinking of fiction when I wrote that. I’ve only rarely seen a physical store that was good for browsing technical literature.