Barnes and Noble

[troymius]

For the past year or so my favorite thing to do was going to the local Barnes and Noble store, buying large tea and a brownie and reading all the 5-or-so Linux magazines they had on the shelves. Sometimes I read them twice before the new issues arrived.

I noticed that lately there have been fewer and fewer of them and today... none!

The question is... is it just my BN store or is it the same everywhere?

PS I looked what else could I read. One's interests should be diverse, after all. For example there was a magazine called "sniper". Interestingly enough, it was really about snipers and for snipers. Apparently snipers buy more magazines than Linux people. Hey nothing against snipers!

[MisterGaribaldi]

There's a few at my B&N. And usually proximate to the computer-related mags is 2600. :D

Bear in mind they do go through stock on a regular basis. It may be what they had has sold out and they simply haven't put up any more replacements yet. In some of the stores, there are drawers under the racks with additional copies of the various mags they stock.

[troymius]

Ok, I will give BN one more try and will report back in a couple of weeks.

They did have tons of win, mac and android centric magazines, some of them you would not tell apart from marketing publications from their respective vendors, yet they were not free.

[CarpKing]

Maybe they ended their subscriptions because all the Linux users show up and read the magazines over tea and a brownie instead of buying them :P

[mips]

I dunno how these stores make money on magazines as they are very expensive so who would buy them? Back in the day my parents use to buy me Amiga Format which was a good mag and so is Linux Format but the price is just horrendous (I purchased a copy a couple of years ago and it was over US$20). I suppose subscribing to the online version would be much cheaper though.

I use to buy about 4 different mags (not just computer related) but I have stopped this and refuse to buy any magazines thes days. In the process I'm also saving the trees.

[stalkingwolf]

In the computer world, printed material is usually out dated, especially books. by the time it hits the racks most of the technology has moved to
new and improved versions.

On line and E versions can be kept up to date easier.

[neu5eeCh]

Meh... I'm worried about B&N. I've read that they're in trouble, like the late Borders. I keep looking for the canary in the coal mine. If they've stopped carrying material that obviously doesn't move, might be a sign that they're feeling the squeeze. Then again, I could just be paranoid.

As much as I use Amazon, I'm going to be bummed if that's all the world is left with. And, yes, I do patronize my local B&N. :popcorn:

[MisterGaribaldi]

I agree with what stalkingwolf and mips basically alluded to above: printed editions of the monthly magazines are out of date, with the big ones (and particularly the imports, like MacFormat, LinuxFormat, et al) also being very expensive.

The last time I checked, the monthlies all had a 3 month lead time built into everything they do. It didn't used to be quite so horribly bad, back in the day, but now the pace of the world as a whole, to say nothing of the technology world, moves very quickly, and unless you're putting out daily publications, you really can't compete against the Internet.

Also, with the production costs of everything going up because of factors such as the price of fuel and currency inflation/devaluation rates, the ad-to-edit ratio has significantly changed for the worse. Also, most of what is in the "editorial" part of these publications is little more than advertising in-and-of-itself.

Let me put another point out for discussion: a lot of newspapers have gone out of business in the last, oh, let's call it five-seven years, and even major/international market papers like the New York Times are talking about calling it quits in the near future with respect to their ink-and-paper operations. And if those sorts of publications are looking at going strictly e-distribution, what chances to smaller operations and magazine producers have?

If that's all the case (and, of course, we're not talking about this happening "next Tuesday" by any means) what's to become of B&N? What role do they have but for really, in my view, two things. First, some things have to be done traditionally because it's the essential nature of certain kinds of publications to be ink-and-paper, and somebody has to sell them. Two, there's still a market for being a distributor to the general public because it saves every single content producer from having to get into the world of distribution, too. But even then, as we're seeing with music and movies, e-distribution is a lot easier to bring under your own roof than, say, warehousing and shelving books; or running a movie theater; etc.

[LowSky]

I dunno how these stores make money on magazines as they are very expensive so who would buy them?

Stores actually don't lose money for not selling a magazine, unless you count shelf space. Unsold mags are sent back to the distributor and credited back to the store's whose shelf they sat on. Most magazines cost very little to make due to the advertisements paying most of the bill. It's is why subscriptions cost so little compared to the retail versions. The store itself has control over what fills it's racks, they can decide not to carry something if it doesn't sell. Linux mags in that store didn't sell because some guy got brownie all over the pages (just a thought). Also most PC magazines come in plastic, especially most Linux trade publications because they usually have a CD or DVD full of software. If you open that plastic you might have actually prevented a sale.

I worked for Borders before they went belly up as a training supervisor. I can tell you anything you want to know about the world of printed media.

[mips]

Stores actually don't lose money for not selling a magazine, unless you count shelf space. Unsold mags are sent back to the distributor and credited back to the store's whose shelf they sat on. Most magazines cost very little to make due to the advertisements paying most of the bill. It's is why subscriptions cost so little compared to the retail versions. The store itself has control over what fills it's racks, they can decide not to carry something if it doesn't sell. Linux mags in that store didn't sell because some guy got brownie all over the pages (just a thought). Also most PC magazines come in plastic, especially most Linux trade publications because they usually have a CD or DVD full of software. If you open that plastic you might have actually prevented a sale.

I worked for Borders before they went belly up as a training supervisor. I can tell you anything you want to know about the world of printed media.

I totally forgot about that. I recall being able to go to stores that sold the stuff that went back to the distributors. Ok it was 2 months old (or older) but it was dirt cheap and you could even buy by the kg.

[aysiu]

I worry about Barnes & Noble, too. I have a Nook. My wife has a Nook. My sister-in-law has a Nook. So far Barnes is the only Android distributor who's stood up to Microsoft's patent trolling.

[troymius]

Maybe they ended their subscriptions because all the Linux users show up and read the magazines over tea and a brownie instead of buying them :P

:) I thought about that but I do pay about $5 for the tea and brownie (it is a large tea and and large brownie) so that is maybe $20 a month just from me!

I also agree with previous posts that most printed info is out of date. But it is just so refreshing to go to a bookstore, relax, watch people around me and ponder things.

[drawkcab]

B&N is a great place if you want to catch up on teenage paranormal romance, whereas the space allotted to all other genres is shrinking. B&N is more of a coffee shop / toy store nowadays.

[pikkon]

I know that Linux Journal is a digital only magazine now.

[JDShu]

I've seen a lot of Linux Magazines in Barnes and Noble, although they rarely hold my interest. KernelTrap (I think that's the name) is the only one I've consistently found interesting.

[troymius]

One week later... there were 2 Linux related magazines on the shelf today, one about Ubuntu server and also the Linux Pro Magazine. They were all the way back in the last row. A person with bad back would never get to them. When I left somehow they were all in the first row. ;)

[chipbuster]

I will be extremely sad if print media ends up dying out--I have lots of trouble reading any long pieces on a screen as it is. I actually went out and bought my 3-5 Linux and HTML tutorial books because I have such trouble dealing with 2-3 hour screen marathons. I expect that it'll only get worse as I get older (and I'm pretty damn young)

[troymius]

So last Sunday I again came to B&N and found exactly zero magazines about Linux. Few weeks ago they had about 5. Week by week there were fewer and fewer and finally it came to zero.

I am quite upset about it. I could not find anything decent to read.

I wonder: is this just the B&N in my neighborhood or is it a global B&N decision not to sell these?

Are these individual stores independent in choosing in what they sell?

[donkyhotay]

In the computer world, printed material is usually out dated, especially books. by the time it hits the racks most of the technology has moved to
new and improved versions.

On line and E versions can be kept up to date easier.

This pretty much says it all.

[QIII]

I have an online subscription to the Linux Journal.

[troymius]

In the computer world, printed material is usually out dated, especially books. by the time it hits the racks most of the technology has moved to
new and improved versions.

On line and E versions can be kept up to date easier.

Yes but up-to-date-ness is not everything. A lot of older information is still very relevant to most. And somehow when I read stuff from screen I cant focus and ponder things as good.

[rk0r]

Buy books not magz!.

Lets face it most of the information you need is on the internet.. for reference to material relating to linux distro's and help. I have no idea what the editors of those linux mags have that the internet dosent ? - Reading the linux mag is like reading about how to code, without being in front of a computer.. boring.

There are a million other books i would rather read with a cup of tea aside from linux mag.

dont flame me, its nothing against linux.

[MisterGaribaldi]

Actually, the original Kindles and the original and new smaller Nooks are pretty decent for reading. I find their displays as easy on the eyes as actual ink-and-paper. The color ones are no better than a monitor: they are kind of grating on the eyes after a while.

[Paqman]

Apparently snipers buy more magazines than Linux people.

Well, neither group are well-known for their social skills, so I guess they've got a lot of "alone-time" to occupy.

[troymius]

Buy books not magz!.

Lets face it most of the information you need is on the internet.. for reference to material relating to linux distro's and help. I have no idea what the editors of those linux mags have that the internet dosent ? - Reading the linux mag is like reading about how to code, without being in front of a computer.. boring.

There are a million other books i would rather read with a cup of tea aside from linux mag.

dont flame me, its nothing against linux.

No worries my friend. You are right but sometimes I like to relax by reading a printed magazine... I cant help it :-)

The poll is shaping up funny. Right now it is 5-5-5.

[jonathonblake]

And if those sorts of publications are looking at going strictly e-distribution, what chances to smaller operations and magazine producers have?

In a really crazy counter-intuitive thing, ultra-niche hard copy publications are making a comeback. General hardcopy publishing is going to be a money loser.


what's to become of B&N?

They will have smaller physical stores. Stores will also be more specialized than they currently are. (IOW, B&N in Salt Lake City will carry everything published by the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints, and the B&N in Independence, Missori will carry everything published by the Community of Christ The B&N in NOLA will specialize in Lousiana history and Voudon, etc. Other stores in the country won't carry that content, but it will be available on special order.

The wildcard is what Amazon's brick and mortar stores do.

Online B&N will putter along, picking up morsels that Amazon missed.


Two, there's still a market for being a distributor to the general public because it saves every single content producer from having to get into the world of distribution,

LSI with Ingram has pretty much cornered that market with pbooks. B&T will pick up everything else. If LSI can negotiate with Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and half a dozen other, smaller ebook retail outlets, then that will take care of e-distribution for publishers.

The big issue with ebook distribution is which online vendors the public will find, and which online retailers they will trust. Currently, Amazon is the big name, but their market share has been declining.


But even then, as we're seeing with music and movies, e-distribution is a lot easier to bring under your own roof than, say, warehousing and shelving books; or running a movie theater; etc.

Music and movies have not, thus far, had format restrictions that eBooks have. With digital music, your audio device usually does not matter. Likewise, with digital movies, your playback device usually does not matter. In both instances, the usual issue is finding the appropriate codec.

With eBooks, your Nook can't read all of the Kindle titles, nor can the Kindle read all of the Nook titles. Some of it is due to file format issues, but most of it is due to encryption, or msiplaced DRM. (Oddly enough, removing the DRM usually provides for a better reading experience on the device that it was targetted for!)

Depending upon the geographical location of your target audience, there are between two and ten different eBook file formats that your content should be available in. Furthermore, each of these file formats requires tweaking for the specific eBook reader that is being targetted. (IOW, your Nook Colour, Nook Touch, and Nook Tablet each have differences that require adjustments in the eBook layout, within the specific file format that the Nook utilizes.)

jonathon

[bornagainpenguin]

I'll miss the Linux Format magazines when\if they go, if for no other reason than for the cover discs. Not everyone has bandwidth where they live, so it's always nice to be able to drop by one of these stores and grab a magazine with a DVD containing three or four major distros and a couple of newer\specialty distros rather than try to download and maybe take all day to get one disc. This is one of the reasons why I was always such a fan of Ubuntu's single disc decision back when it started.

At that time everything else seemed to be at least three discs, just to get a basic system installed, so Ubuntu was a godsend!

And I did tend to read the magazine articles, because even though they were often outdated, they would introduce me to applications and games or explain concepts to me that I wouldn't have chosen to learn about on my own or discovered otherwise.

People forget that the customization and personalization made possible by internet media precludes many opportunities for pleasant discoveries. Of course I'm the odd duck about stuff like that...

[samalex]

I'll thumb through the Linux magazines, but I don't buy any magazine that costs $5 or more unless there's a REALLY good article I just can't live without... and most of the content in the Linux magazines can be found online for free.

As someone else suggested 2600 is about the only magazine I used to buy until I started getting it digitally on my Kindle Fire for $12/year (it's like twice that for print). I collected 2600 for YEARS having most of the issues from the mid 90's through about 2005, buying each issue from our local B&N and often times getting the most current Linux Journal and Linux Magazine to boot. But when this started hitting the $10 mark I decided to just stick with 2600.

Honestly I still love magazines, but the few I read (National Geographic, Smithsonian, etc) are subscribed so I just pay about $12-$15 a year instead of $5/month.

[Bandit]

Doesnt seem like a BN question, just a question of purchasing from store period. But to answer the question. I dont buy much, only every couple of years. But I do enjoy having good Linux reference books. Linux in a Nutshell for example.

[rg4w]

I enjoy Linux magazines and buy them (usually from B&N) almost monthly.

But for books, I prefer the flexibility of reading them on my laptops and tablets. I just picked up another six ebooks from O'Reilly the other day, and with their DRM-free PDFs I can put them on every device I have so I can continue reading no matter which one is with me at the moment. I find that for learning tech stuff it's great to be able to search, and since tech often goes obsolete within just a few years I don't have to feel guilty about all the dead trees lining my bookshelves - I just recycle the pixels instead.