Why Nobody Likes E-Books

CybrGuyRSB writes: "In today's Chicago Tribune, there is an interesting article about the total unpopularity of e-books. It seems to partly tie their failure into their copyright protection and briefly discusses the Skylarov case."

Comments

O'Reilly

[DaSyonic]

When discussing E-Books, we should look at O'Reilly, and how they do E-Books. While true, it's just on a CD-ROM, it still very much applies. Yet O'Reilly doesnt encrypt it in any way. They make it very easy and portable to read the content, and they are successful. Then you look at why. They dont have to force stuff down our throat, or force us into submission, or tell us how we can read the book that we pay for. They just have good informative content, and give it at an acceptable price, and people respect them and buy the product. Now if all E-Books decided to work in this way, they would be much more successful.

I beg to differ!

[Grendel Drago]

This is from an email I wrote to a friend of mine who requested some references after I gave him the RenderMan Interface Specification 3.1, avaiable at pixar.com.)

You asked me where other free references etc could be
found online.

Hogan Books has a pretty nice list:


ftp://hoganbooks.com/weball.zip

`Numerical Recipes in C/F77/F90'. I think it may be
included above.


http://www.ulib.org/webRoot/Books/Numerical_Reci pe s/

Mostly science books, but has `A Simplified
Introduction to LaTeX'.


http://samizdat.mines.edu/


Of course, the Linux Documentation Project has its
HOWTOs and mini-HOWTOs and Guides in .ps or .pdf or
sometimes .dvi format:


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/othe r- formats/


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/HOWTO/mini /o ther-formats/


http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/docs/linux-doc- pr oject/

Adobe keeps all of their specs online; the PDF and
PostScript language references, stuff about TrueType
and the new Compact Font Format, etc etc.


http://partners.adobe.com/asn/developer/technote s/ main.html

`Thinking in PostScript', posted by the author in some
ridiculous proprietary format, as well as in PDF.


http://www.rightbrain.com/pages/book-download.sh tm l

A whole variety of programming books; most seem to be
available in PDF/PS:


http://www.free-book.co.uk/computers-internet/pr og ramming/index.htm

A variety of free online programming references.


http://www.thefreecountry.com/developercity/onli ne references.shtml

Online publishing is only dead if you're a publisher.

-grendel drago