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by pessimizer 241 days ago
I think it's way better to shop at a bookstore filled exclusively with stuff you've already shown interest in, like your bookshelf or ebook directory. The only caveat when it comes to paper is not to buy shit e.g. bestsellers, or software books that you're not going to read and use right away. If you don't buy shit (this is also true with board games and guitars), you can resell likely for about what you paid (or sometimes unexpectedly far more), whenever you want.

Honestly, don't ever buy bestsellers. They're all bad and everything in them is wrong. Things become bestsellers because they find an audience beyond people who are smart or shrewd. If you wait 5 years and you still want to read them, people will pay you to haul them off. Software books are great, especially for people who need paper to learn well, but they're outdated before they're released. Only good for tearing out the pages for hamster cage liner or padding shipping/moving boxes.
2 comments
dotancohen 241 days ago 

  > I think it's way better to shop at a bookstore filled exclusively with stuff you've already shown interest in
That sounds like quite the endorsement for targeted advertising. In a good way - really I would love targeted advertising if it were implemented differently.
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pessimizer 241 days ago
Pretty well-established that targeted advertising works better than untargeted advertising, all other things being equal.

I think you should put things in your bookshelf or collection of pdfs to hold off FOMO. When you finally get back around to being interested in Bosnian history, the books you wanted might be impossible to get. If you never get back around to it, you can help some stranger out who did.

I guess this is becoming less true with the libgens and annas-archives of the world, but when those all disappear on the same day (that seemed like any other), you'll have missed out. I certainly don't miss the days when I spent years waiting for a book to come up on ebay or used.addall.com at a price under $150.

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johnnyanmac 241 days ago
Targeted ads are great, when it's actually consumer focused. Sadly the nature of modern ads makes it so all the power is taken from the consumer. A proper targeted ad should have the ability to say to it "I never want to see yo again", and virtually no advert would ever want that to happen.
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johnnyanmac 241 days ago
>Honestly, don't ever buy bestsellers. They're all bad and everything in them is wrong. Things become bestsellers because they find an audience beyond people who are smart or shrewd.

In the context of technical/political pieces, perhaps. But I have some reservations with even that limited scope

1. It's fine to target a more general audience if it gets them interested in a subject to begin with. Some inaccuracies help give context to learning before you break them. e.g. Saying "you can't subtract 3 from 2" in early learning, before later learning about the negative number space.

2. How many books of this nature even make best seller? Most stuff tends to be fiction or biographical so there's not much "wrong" there. Political stuff will be there as well, but is ultimately subjective.

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