"The key to understanding the market for techincal books is to realize that not everyone's time is equally valuable. You are quite correct in your assertion that all of the raw information in the book can be found on the Web for free with a few search sessions and some digging through the trash..."
Try Fravia searchlores: http://www.searchlores.org/
"and the web is full of bad advice and just plain wrong information, especially when it comes to web design and development where many people have conflicting opinions which they recite as factual information."
That's not to say someone can't test it out. I mean, HTML and CSS is used even in MYSPACE, where you can correct/check/and teach/experiment with the information you're given. You're thinking a bit too much like my teachers; not all information is wrong, and there's more than hundreds of ways to find it. I learned CSS and HTML on my own, not by tutorials, but by fooling around and testing things out and observing the code. Don't forget; is money the issue here? We can both agree on the same thing. Someone can just sit down and READ the book IN the store (without spending $$), or actually take it out. I've seen people (like me) in the tech/sci section of borders jotting things down. If money is the issue; I say dont get it. If it's for the actual KNOWLEDGE you get from reading the book, I encourage information. Books are just as good as computers. But money's what the main article's all about.
"....that and the main point which was how much is your time worth?"
It's up to the buyers of what they want to do. They can either spend $30 on a book, search google, or copy + paste random code on Myspace. It's up to the readers to decide who they are and what they're gonna do.
Niether one takes more/less time than the other. And if they haven't got the time, what are they doing? Writing scripts doesn't happen in a night!
But you have a good argument:)
What I don't seem to understand is that any information, i.e. HTML/XHTML/DHTML/CSS can be easily found on the Web for free with a click of a button. Tutorials, guides, et cetera.
I've seen the book at Borders, but just laughed. Any type of book has SOME information that can be easily accessed without spending a dime isn't worth getting. I'd rather save my two cents here.
HTML is so outdated anyways.
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"The key to understanding the market for techincal books is to realize that not everyone's time is equally valuable. You are quite correct in your assertion that all of the raw information in the book can be found on the Web for free with a few search sessions and some digging through the trash..." Try Fravia searchlores: http://www.searchlores.org/ "and the web is full of bad advice and just plain wrong information, especially when it comes to web design and development where many people have conflicting opinions which they recite as factual information." That's not to say someone can't test it out. I mean, HTML and CSS is used even in MYSPACE, where you can correct/check/and teach/experiment with the information you're given. You're thinking a bit too much like my teachers; not all information is wrong, and there's more than hundreds of ways to find it. I learned CSS and HTML on my own, not by tutorials, but by fooling around and testing things out and observing the code. Don't forget; is money the issue here? We can both agree on the same thing. Someone can just sit down and READ the book IN the store (without spending $$), or actually take it out. I've seen people (like me) in the tech/sci section of borders jotting things down. If money is the issue; I say dont get it. If it's for the actual KNOWLEDGE you get from reading the book, I encourage information. Books are just as good as computers. But money's what the main article's all about. "....that and the main point which was how much is your time worth?" It's up to the buyers of what they want to do. They can either spend $30 on a book, search google, or copy + paste random code on Myspace. It's up to the readers to decide who they are and what they're gonna do. Niether one takes more/less time than the other. And if they haven't got the time, what are they doing? Writing scripts doesn't happen in a night! But you have a good argument :)
What I don't seem to understand is that any information, i.e. HTML/XHTML/DHTML/CSS can be easily found on the Web for free with a click of a button. Tutorials, guides, et cetera. I've seen the book at Borders, but just laughed. Any type of book has SOME information that can be easily accessed without spending a dime isn't worth getting. I'd rather save my two cents here. HTML is so outdated anyways.