New in the shops
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2005-08-01 12:00:31 - Graham EllisI promised you a report on what's new in the techie and books stores in the USA. In the past, we've found that the USA has been somewhat ahead of the UK and that's been exciting and positive. But it seems that times are a-changing. On this trip, the shelves in the bookstores are sadder than I have seen them and stores like CompUSA seem quiet shells compared to what they were a few years back. And there's little exciting and new to report. So perhaps I should speculate and analayse?
Are we about to see a major crash where no-one wants IT any more? No, I don't think so, but everyone's bought their PC and done their first web site now, has their digital camera, printer, and fast internet connection. An each of these is now up to a standard where the typical user simply doesn't want any more power / more megapixels / still faster connection - so we're largely into a more mature replacement market. Add to this that the technology has itself provided new distribution channels and there's no longer the need for an expensive Mall store to sell your product ...
But amongst the disappointment, what did I notice on the bookshelves? C# and Vb. Networking infrastructure / Cisco. Linux (including Fedora core 4 CDs). Knoppix. Computer security. Oh - and a couple of fabulous new Perl books that I'll be settling down with on the flight home tonight: "Perl Best Practices" by Damian Conway and "Higher Order Perl" by Mark Jason Dominus.