Comments on: Mindful Monday: The Value of eBooks

By: Believe. Act. Achieve! - dcr Blogs dot Com » Blog Archive » This Week (or So) in Blogging

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:45:47 +0000

[...] is drowning in books. That’s one benefit of eBooks–they don’t take up as much physical [...]

By: Believe. Act. Achieve! - dcr Blogs dot Com » Blog Archive » The Tila Tequila is Naked eBook, or Wherein I Rant About Comment Spam

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:23:04 +0000

[...] You may remember last month that I wrote about the value of eBooks. [...]

By: Debo Hobo

Debo Hobo — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 14:51:34 +0000

I have tried and tried to get that plugin to work for me but it won’t. I guess I need to give it another shot. Thanks.

By: Lindsay

Lindsay — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:48:11 +0000

I’m also one of those who wonders why people actually buy ebooks. Or anything from a big, long sales letter page.

I’m as lazy as the next person, but I’d still rather browse a bit and find the same information in forums.

I do, however, appreciate some of the great free ebooks I’ve read (Brian and Copyblogger has written some wonderful ones).

By: dcr

dcr — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:06:47 +0000

Probably because, in the pre-Google days, I think software came with better manuals. Sometimes, they’d include a workbook of sorts that would show you how to accomplish different things. I use to refer to manuals and workbooks often to figure out how to do things.

These days, it’s like an after-thought. I sometimes wonder if they outsource their manuals to people who have never used the software. Often, you have to search on Google because the vendor’s own manual or website doesn’t cover what you’re trying to do. It’s not uncommon for me to read the manual and not come out with an answer, and sometimes there’s no explanation for what you’re trying to do. Or, something might not be indexed. Somethings you might find through the table of contents and some things you need to find in the index, and sometimes those two areas aren’t coordinated. Worse yet is when the page number the index gives is completely wrong. If you’re lucky, it will just be a page or two off. But, sometimes they may be a complete digit off, like page 347 when what you’re looking for is on page 447. And, sometimes the index may have seemingly been leftover from a previous edition of a manual, and some of the things in the index just aren’t in the manual at all.

But, I digress…

By: B. Durant

B. Durant — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:51:46 +0000

Yeah but if you have to print them out it kind of defeats the purpose. At least in my mind. I think software companies don’t bother because they know that the majority of people won’t read it. I work in the IT industry and I can’t ever remember picking up a software manual. It’s always been a matter of finding the right search combination in google or whatever search engine to solve a problem or get additional information.

By: dcr

dcr — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:51:07 +0000

I usually print them out and spiral-bind them.

What bothers me most is computer software manuals. Some companies don’t include the manuals anymore, except as a PDF. They might sell the printed manual separately, or you can try to print it out yourself if you want a printed copy. Those software manuals usually end up being much, much longer than the typical eBook!

By: B. Durant

B. Durant — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:37:28 +0000

For the life of me I don’t understand the appeal of ebooks. Nothing to do with their content, or the writer’s skills, but everything to do with comfort. Reading an ebook or any other electronic text is simply uncomfortable. Actually to the point of being painful if it gets to be book length. I’m honestly amazed that they sell nearly as well as they do.

By: dcr

dcr — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:46:38 +0000

Brian's Threaded Comments.

By: Debo Hobo

Debo Hobo — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:31:23 +0000

Which comment threading plugin are you using the one I have sucks.