I would buy a new edition of Matt's book the day it came out. It's a
great reference, it's nice to have another viewpoint on things, and
he covers stuff that's either missing or skimmed over in the official
docs.
I buy books for a variety of reasons:
- when I'm going somewhere I'll throw in a reference book for
whatever I'm working on in case things start late or I'm held up
- I can write notes & draw diagrams in the margins to clarify things
- I can add my own index entries too (so when I come back 6 months
later and look under the "wrong" subject, I still find it quickly)
- books are easier to read than my TabletPC and the batteries don't
run out somewhere over Utah
- I don't have to worry about finding a compatible "reader" app in 3
years (anybody else get Hypercard books back in the day? --I got
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! On floppy!). My Newton doesn't
work any more, and although I'd love to revive it, the time for it is
/way/ down the list.
I will buy ebooks occasionally:
- if they're significantly cheaper than paper (50% or less)
- if they're short
- if I need them /now/
- if I'm sure I'll only need them "for this one small project"
- if it isn't available any other way (but must be highly useful)
A good example is the series of Take Control books
(http://www.tidbits.com/takecontrol/). For example, the Take Control
of Upgrading to Panther was just what I needed: a well-tested
checklist, and way more detail than Apple gives, that I needed once.
Five bucks (US).
And finally, using the web for detailed information is a fifty-fifty
proposition at best:
- my internet connection doesn't fail often, but it's /always/ when
I'm reading the new on-line "equivalent" of Inside Macintosh (either
that or Safari hits the silk with 10 tabs open)
- the time to locate things is costly. Even a slightly out-of-date
book is usually more time-efficient
- things disappear (for example, I think it was ResExcellence that's
pages had disappeared last weekend when I was looking for something;
a detailed, reliable site, but not available when I wanted it)
- things can be of dubious accuracy (I'm speaking in general terms,
/not/ referring to ResExcellence here)
In summary, (for me) books are usually the best medium for
programming reference material, and almost every one I've bought (and
I buy a lot) has been worth the money.
Cheers.
Dave
_______________________________________________
Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode:
<http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/>
Search the archives of this list here:
<http://www.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
|