SOFTWARE BEST SELLERS : OLD COMPUTER BOOKS GETTING EXTENDED SHELF LIFE IN STORES.Byline: Dawn Yoshitake Daily News Staff Writer As computer users rush to get the latest whiz-bang software upgrade, those who don't have a low-tech solution to squeezing more out of their existing programs. Books. Software developers are churning out new versions so quickly that instruction manuals now are typically published for only a brief time. But demand continues as computer users still find use for the old software programs. Maybe a consumer inherits a computer loaded with the dated programs. Or perhaps he or she lands a new job with a company that uses older software. ``Nothing out there is as perishable per·ish·a·ble adj. Subject to decay, spoilage, or destruction. n. Something, especially foodstuff, subject to decay or spoilage. Often used in the plural. as a software book, except maybe an income tax book,'' said Greg Binder binder: see combine. An earlier Microsoft Office workbook file that let users combine related documents from different Office applications. The documents could be viewed, saved, opened, e-mailed and printed as a group. , inventory and analysis manger manger cattle trough which served as crib for Christ. [N.T.: Luke 2:7] See : Nativity for MacMillan Publishing USA, Indiana-based parent of QUE, Hayden and Ziff Davis Ziff Davis Inc. (ZD) is an American magazine publisher and Internet Information company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, publishers. ``Software books become obsolete after six months.'' So although a software book might be ``current'' for only a matter of months - it can have an afterlife that can last for years. Book publishers and retailers now are tapping into the new demand for older computer books See how to find a good computer book. . For example, Computer City is planning to expand its book section this year and will keep a larger number of older version software books, rather than immediately return them to the publisher, said a company spokeswoman for the Texas-based computer store chain. CompUSA also offers a small selection of the older computer software books. And Crown Books Corp., a Maryland-based bookstore chain, eight months ago added a discount area to its Super Crown computer section, which carries a large number of older version software titles, said Steve Stevens, president. ``Computer books are one of the fastest growth areas with the constant change in software, increasing amount of software offered and the Internet,'' he said. Ron Snyder, an assistant store manager at Super Crown in Sherman Oaks, said sales for older versions books are brisk. ``We get about 20 requests a week for remainders and now we have a place where they can get them,'' Snyder said. ``We sell quite a few of these books. People go to work at a company with an older software program and they want a book to learn it.'' Retailers get the older software books through a circuitous cir·cu·i·tous adj. Being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course: took a circuitous route to avoid the accident site. process that is made possible by the short shelf life of new software books. MacMillan, like the rest of the book industry, gets a quarter of the books it ships to retailers returned as unsold merchandise, Binder said. The company then sells a portion of those returned books, known as remainders, to wholesale distributors who resell to retailers and at computer trade shows. MacMillan last year sold $2.5 million worth of computer-related remainder books and this year expects to double that to $5 million, Binder said. Other issues also are contributing to the demand, say wholesale distributors. A rapid change in hardware has led some computer users to give their old computers - loaded with dated software - to friends or family members. Tom Tabert, owner of Denver-based Book Tech Distributing Inc., says that's when the search begins for the instruction manuals to go with the old software. And even new computers that come loaded with software packages don't always have the latest versions. ``Some people say they don't need a faster computer or more memory, they just want to use their computer better,'' said Hasu Patel, president of Computer Books & Software 4 Less Inc., a San Diego-based distributor, retailer and mail order company. He added that students taking a computer class often are instructed to go with older versions of software because it's cheaper and, in some cases, will suffice until they become more advanced. ``There's a lot of teachers at universities that teach WordPerfect 5.1, even though it's not the latest version,'' Patel said, noting that the publisher has discontinued dis·con·tin·ue v. dis·con·tin·ued, dis·con·tin·u·ing, dis·con·tin·ues v.tr. 1. To stop doing or providing (something); end or abandon: printing manuals for that version. His company recently filled an order from Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (pwār`tō rē`kō), island (2005 est. pop. 3,917,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. for 25 copies of WordPerfect 5.1, received more than a dozen requests for Dos 5.0 books from a computer club, and even had one frantic customer drive from Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to his San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. warehouse after learning he still carried a CorelDraw 3.0 book. The upswing Upswing An upward turn in a security's price after a period of falling prices. in sales for these older version software books began in the mid-1980s, said Heidi Wells, chief executive of Denver-based distributor The Innovative Alliance. ``The vast majority of computer book publishers were landfilling the books and not remaindering them. Publishers weren't interested in selling orders by ones and twos after the next version came out, and they were concerned that the older ones would compete with the newer versions,'' Wells said. But distributors, eventually, were able to persuade publishers that price protections could be taken for the new versions, as older ones were sold through various channels, she said. Michael Wolfe Michael Wolfe (Born 3 April, 1945, United States) is a poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation. He is also a frequent lecturer on Islamic issues at universities across the United States including Harvard, Georgetown, Stanford, SUNY , key account sales director for publisher IDG IDG International Data Group IDG Integrated Drive Generator IDG Installation Design Guide IDG Internet Discussion Group IDG Inset Dielectric Guide IDG International Dangerous Goods (mail, shipping) Books Worldwide Inc. in Foster City, said a growing number of people perceive the value in old computer books. IDG is the publisher of the ``For Dummies'' books. ``There are a lot of people with old machines and their value has gone up. Computer remainder books are worth more than a novel or best seller,'' Wolfe said. ``Novels, once they get stale stale horseman's term for the act of urination by a horse. , they get really stale.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (Color) Many book publishers and retailers are tappi ng into the new demand for older computer books. Evan Yee/Daily News |
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