
Ask HN: Are there any bookshops dedicated to computing / programming? Anywhere? - scandox
I love buying technical books and I was wondering if anyone knows of a physical bookshop that specializes in computing? Or does anyone know of a bookshop with a really intelligent &#x2F; interesting selection and which avoids the usual learn X in Y minutes. I&#x27;m interested in a bookshop anywhere at all, since my interest is also in getting a sense of whether one could make a business out of it.<p>I am aware of https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Computer_Literacy_Bookshops, but can&#x27;t find evidence of anything more recent.<p>I know many programmers would consider buying a physical copy redundant. I know many of the good ones are available as free PDFs or in other formats. I know my love of the book itself is not necessarily widely shared. Nonetheless the idea keeps coming back to me (I&#x27;d be happy to be cured of it).<p>Interested in all views. I am involved in the publishing industry in another life. So I understand the basic dynamics of bookselling...but I&#x27;ve no idea how most programmers feel about browsing and buying physical books about computing.
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RNeff
I used to buy books at Computer Literacy ages ago, I probably still have one
of their T-shirts in a box. Borders Books had a good selection of serious
computer books in the stores in Silicon Valley. I would buy books there when I
had a coupon. The Stanford Bookstore on campus has a great selection,
including all of Don Knuth's books.

Amazon's discounting is obviously a problem. O'Reilly books has a daily email
with one (or sometimes all) of their books in ebook format for half off.

There is large online marketplaces of used books, including used textbooks,
which further undercuts new book sales.

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GFK_of_xmaspast
There's Reiter's in DC but I haven't been there in a decade, so I don't know
how much technical stuff they have anymore:
[http://www.reiters.com](http://www.reiters.com)

as well as Digital Guru in Sunnyvale:
[https://www.digitalguru.com](https://www.digitalguru.com)

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scandox
Digital Guru looks like the kind of thing I was looking for. It's kind of
funny how old school their site looks given their location and target audience
but I might give them a call and just ask them "how's business"...

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jacalata
Powell's in Portland temporarily had a separate Technical Annex, but it only
lasted a short time (a year?) before being absorbed back into the main
building.

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mindcrime
They still have a nice selection of technical books in the main store though.
I'm here in Portland visiting now, and Powell's was pretty much my first stop.
:-) They have a larger section of technical books than probably any other book
store I've been in. And I'm talking just "computer stuff", that's not even
counting the math/science stuff, electrical engineering / electronics, etc.

If anyone is ever in Portland, you'll definitely want to make a trip to
Powell's if you like (dead tree) books.

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wmoser
While it's somewhat small, I always try to stop by the MIT Press store in
Cambridge MA if I'm headed through the area.

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jonjacky
Ada's Technical Books in Seattle - mostly computing, although they also have
books about other technical subjects.

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scandox
Thanks that looks really interesting

