Quote:
Originally Posted by Daithi
I'd love to be able to use my Kindle for storing technical books. I have technical books for Javascript, SQL, ASP, XSLT, etc. where I often need to look up some syntax or a code snippet and the search function of the Kindle would be great. Usually I use the internet for this function but it also returns old information, irrelavent information, too detailed information, not detailed enough information, etc. Sometimes a book is a better provider of information than a Google search.
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Good points Daithi, but I look at it from the other side. The book (kindle or otherwise) is static. So when I read a good scifi book, I LIKE the book to be static, its a story after all. But a technical book is not a story, it is in fact someones opinion, unless its a reference book.
Take for example the O'Reilly "cookbook" series. I used to love those for the reasons you state. But if you use the internet, you get more up to date and peer reviewed answers. For example if someone writes a tutorial on the Factory pattern in Java, you can bet that there will be discussion in the comments offering alternatives or saying that this is a good tutorial. But when you read the book, its static and you have no peer review.
As an aside...
The one thing that I like about the Amazon book reviews is reading the reviews that are 3 stars or lower. Its a form of "peer" review. I don't care too much about why you liked it, I want to know whats WRONG with the book. I think that peer review and the wisdom of crowds is a powerful force that I hope the publishing industry can harness.