Technical (paper) Books -- Still worth it?

[WWGD]

Hi,
Anyone here still buy paper technical books? Most of the material in them is available on the web, although nor in the organized format provided by the book. So it would seem for it to be worthwhile buying a book on topics one is mostly unfamiliar with, in that the value of the book is in the structure, organization the unfamiliar reader could not , themselves, provide. Basically, the book would serve as the foundation for building, "scaffolding" further knowledge. Do you agree with this? What is your take?

 

[jedishrfu]

I still buy books. I find them to be organized and static enough to read through. THe web stuff is less well vetted and different folks use different terminology that makes it difficult to follow the logic in all cases.

My only beef is that the authors often don't cover the topics I really need to read. Usually its because of the lead time in writing a book makes it 1 to 2 years behind the current crop of web articles.

Mostly I get computer software books on topics in Java, Python, ML... while Java and Python are somewhat static ML is still evolving very fast.

 

[BillTre]

I have bought (and would in the future buy) some technical books (which to me basically means a how to book).
They are usually things on overviews of new complex programs I am interested in learning.
I find them useful and tend to bookmark them and mark them up, which works way better for me then trying to do the same electronically.

More frequently, I buy science books (meaning books about what is recently being figured out and how it is done).
A good science book will give you an in-depth understanding of the competing current ideas and issues on a subject.
I also bookmark and mark-up these books as I use them.
I have probably read three of four of good science in the last year, all somewhat obscure biology subjects.
Of course not all books are equally as good. I usually read several reviews of any science book I buy if it cost very much.
Now that its the holiday season and I am expecting to get books from relatives, I have made a list of decent books I would be interested in so that I don't get books I don't like that much from well intended people.

 

[Rive]

I'm too buying books, but only if the subject is expected to remain 'stable' for some years at least.
So no book for the actual Office version, no book for some 'revolutionary' programming language variant, no book for device catalogs - but for example not too long ago I've found an used copy of some 'Switching power supplies' book from 1990. The electronics part is obsolote of course, but the magnetic parts are still relevant and quite hard to find online...

 

[WWGD]

Thank you all. I have a few books by Peter Norton: "Upgrading and Repairing your PC" , and " Linux" , but from around 2000. Have PC architecture., Linux setup changed too much for the books to have any real value left, or should I sell/donate them?

 

[Klystron]

Thank you all. I have a few books by Peter Norton: "Upgrading and Repairing your PC" , and " Linux" , but from around 2000. Have PC architecture., Linux setup changed too much for the books to have any real value left, or should I sell/donate them?

I recently consolidated my technical books moving from large house to a condo. I donated nearly all the procedural texts such as "Awk", "Gnu", "Understanding Solaris", etc. to the public library. I happened to see a lady buy my "Pascal" and "Unix" books, for her son, she said. I had to keep core subject textbooks no matter how dated but happy to raise money for the library.

I've nearly stopped buying books in favor of using the library. Though frugal compared to purchasing, libraries present many difficulties including obsolete versions, stolen or missing books, limited borrowing time, and poor selection. Years ago I read a brilliant text on manifolds by Wolfram (?). When I tried to re-read it the lib only located a text on automata. Good read and useful ideas but not helpful as a co-text to "Road to Reality" by Penrose (of course the library has multiple copies). Funny computer substitutions. Requested a text on algebraic sets; the library substituted a book on 3-D Art! Fascinating book, even had algorithms but not what I required.

 

[Ophiolite]

Books have the following benefits:
1) Searching in a familiar book for information is much faster than any online search.
2) Flipping between items within a book is generally easier than in a soft copy, unless that is extensively laden with hyperlinks.
3) Books work without batteries.
4) Books have a satisfying solidity to them.
5) They make an attractive backdrop to educational videos, suggesting the speaker is well read. :)

(Lest I be accused of being a Luddite I note that I have some 6.0 Gb of textbooks and research papers on my hard drive, representing over 6,000 distinct documents, while my technical library contains barely 950 science books [And that includes autobiographies of scientists and popular science books, in addition to the textbooks and monographs.])

I acquire old textbooks on the subjects of specific interest to me, spread over a wide time frame. Studying these provides a fascinating insight into the development of theories and understanding. Pursuing this approach online is not as straightforward.

 

[WWGD]

Books have the following benefits:
1) Searching in a familiar book for information is much faster than any online search.
2) Flipping between items within a book is generally easier than in a soft copy, unless that is extensively laden with hyperlinks.
3) Books work without batteries.
4) Books have a satisfying solidity to them.
5) They make an attractive backdrop to educational videos, suggesting the speaker is well read. :)

(Lest I be accused of being a Luddite I note that I have some 6.0 Gb of textbooks and research papers on my hard drive, representing over 6,000 distinct documents, while my technical library contains barely 950 science books [And that includes autobiographies of scientists and popular science books, in addition to the textbooks and monographs.])

I acquire old textbooks on the subjects of specific interest to me, spread over a wide time frame. Studying these provides a fascinating insight into the development of theories and understanding. Pursuing this approach online is not as straightforward.

There is also a sort of Network Effect to books you have read. You know where to find everything, you understand how it is setup, which, as you stated, speeds up the process of search and the process of reading material that may be both organized and written in unfamiliar ways in some website. And most reasonable books are researched and proof-read, unlike many websites. IOW, I wholly agree with what you wrote; I essentially re-wrote what you posted :).

 

[Ophiolite]

There is also a sort of Network Effect to books you have read. You know where to find everything, you understand how it is setup, which, as you stated, speeds up the process of search and the process of reading material that may be both organized and written in unfamiliar ways in some website. And most reasonable books are researched and proof-read, unlike many websites. IOW, I wholly agree with what you wrote; I essentially re-wrote what you posted :).

I am, of course, honour bound to agree with anyone who agrees with me.
I would add - as I think you would also agree - that this is not an either or proposition of books versus electronic material. Rather we can take advantage of the strengths of each and add to that direct contact with experts via lectures, tutorials, emails, etc blending all of these into an effective learning mechanism. We live in fortunate times.

 

[WWGD]

I am, of course, honour bound to agree with anyone who agrees with me.
I would add - as I think you would also agree - that this is not an either or proposition of books versus electronic material. Rather we can take advantage of the strengths of each and add to that direct contact with experts via lectures, tutorials, emails, etc blending all of these into an effective learning mechanism. We live in fortunate times.

Indeed, that was the goal of the post, to pin down which is best under which conditions. Nicely put.

 

[Klystron]

Walk into a public library, supported by the county and cities where I live. Visit the changing art exhibits, admire a few favorites, glance over current political pamphlets and head for the books! All that vast knowledge and entertainment at your fingertips.

 

[WWGD]

A tricky issue here, I think, is that there is a major benefit from seeing different takes, perspectives on the same topic, which is what different books give you. Moreover, if one fixes a list of topics in a book, say, topic1,..., topicn, then book A may cover topics, say topic1, topic5, topic 6 well, but not so for other topics, while book B may cover topic2, topic4, topic n well. I always hoped I could asemble my own books this way, or be able to rewrite/update them.

 

[jedishrfu]

That's the notion behind wikipedia basically and they have the wikibooks feature.

What limits it is the quality of authorship since authors like all of us need to make enough money to live as we want and wikipedia just doesn't cut it and so they get some enthusiastic amateur authors who are good but things are vetted in the same way as a book might be.

However maybe someday that will change.

 

[WWGD]

That's the notion behind wikipedia basically and they have the wikibooks feature.

What limits it is the quality of authorship since authors like all of us need to make enough money to live as we want and wikipedia just doesn't cut it and so they get some enthusiastic amateur authors who are good but things are vetted in the same way as a book might be.

However maybe someday that will change.

Yes, I guess piecewise books: different chapters by different authors would present copyright, royalty , etc nightmares.