Re^3: Perl losing momentum ?

You can be deceived by the bookshelf-space theory, in the US at least. Books in the US are typically sold on consignment, so the bookstores don't pay for them until they sell. That's why there is so much junk on the shelves. Some publishers pump out garbage and hope that someone is desperate enough to buy it. If not, re-pulp and repeat. It can easily be that there are only a few good books in a bookstore, and the bookstore does fine. In this environment, "the front supports the back", so they really are in the coffee and browsing business.

It should work perfectly the first time! - toma

Comment on Re^3: Perl losing momentum ?

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Re^4: Perl losing momentum ? by sundialsvc4 (Abbot) on Feb 01, 2008 at 22:42 UTC
Believe me, I know whereof I speak in this case. Booksellers don't own the inventory (that's basically true of every retailer...) but they do want the sales. Since books are both bulky and perishable, a huge amount of attention is placed upon just what gets ordered, just where it should be placed in the store, and just how long it should be allowed to remain there. In quite a few stores these days, the computer-books section is down to just one or two rows... computer-books simply don't pay. Let's face it, Sweet Savage I-Want-Your-Body Hunk, or anything by John Grisham, is going to out-sell anything at all about Ruby... and continue doing so for a very long time.
Re^5: Perl losing momentum ? by toma (Vicar) on Feb 01, 2008 at 23:52 UTC
I guess I'm not seeing the same thing locally. The bookstores around here are the size of the public library where I grew up, and the computer section is the size of a whole bookstore from back then. Of course books with a broader appeal will outsell computer books. I'm not sure what you mean by a 'row' in a bookstore. I enjoy visiting my Big Bold Bookstore here in California. Ours has something like 500 linear feet of computer books. It's interesting how they have one section of titles mostly like "How morons can program visually in 42 days secretly revealed", and other sections with shelves full of good stuff. The good stuff overflows onto tables and displays. The other big bookstore in town (which is not really known for high-tech) has more expensive coffee but they only have the junk section, with maybe one or two shelves of good stuff. It has varied over time, but I think the Perl book shelf space is at least 4:1 bigger than the Ruby. Ruby of course has a great growth rate, which is what gets many people excited. If anyone tells me about a really slick open source dynamic cross-platform language that creates sharp native-app GUIs and has good high speed numerical libraries, I'll want to try it. If it ever happens, I expect I'll learn all about it in my local bookstore soon after I first hear about it. I'll pay the extra 30% to buy it there, because mostly I buy where I shop. It should work perfectly the first time! - toma	[reply]


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