Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 134

I was talking to a friend who published technical books and they mentioned putting their books on some type of module...whether Springboard or Palm SD or whatever.

So my question is:

Do you guys think that putting technical books and instructional text on a storage media is a good idea? Would people use them? I mean carrying a book on Unix and Java and WebObjects at once vs. carrying a module with it seems like a no brainer...but then again that is just my opinion. I'd like to know what other people think and what would you pay for something like that? Would you pay $30 for a module that you could update that didn't use your internal memory? What if the module or SD card could store multiple books that you could load onto it? Would you pay a little more? What would you pay for the module and what would you pay for the books in electronic form?



Any input you can give would be great. I'd like to see this type of thing...but I want to know if I am just the exception to the rule.

Thanks.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Glen Burnie, Maryland
Posts: 205

I'd be all for this idea. I do something similar to this now with PDF files for various apps. I use Acrobat for Palm to convert them, and then move them to my Thinmodem plus. I think $30 would be appropriate, depending on the book, and if multiple books could be stored on one module, even better. Important things for me would be to still have access to screen shots and diagrams that the books contained, not just the text, for them to be searchable, and have a "tappable" index. As long as the cost of the modules were less than, or equal to, the books contained on them, you would have a sale here.

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Sven

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: 'braska
Posts: 211

Great idea for reference books and the like, especially with the search abilities of an electronic version. One thing to remember though, it really sucks to try to read code on a PDA.

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www.jphillips66.org

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 49

I think that this is a great idea. The cost would have to be reasonable.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: Them Twin Cities
Posts: 1758

The main thing would be to make sure that it was quickly navigable. A straight "book," is a bad idea, but titled & indexed & quickly searched pages/sections would be great.

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Out of my skull, back in five minutes
Posts: 1435

If I paid $30 for a hard-copy manual, I'd be willing to lay out an additional $20 or so for the Springboard module.
I'd like a searchable one with a complete reference on HTML, perhaps presented as "Flash Cards" on each call and its attributes.
I agree that anything with diagrams would need to retain those.

What I'd really like is for all my various computer books and technical manuals to come in three formats: book, so I can read it anywhere; searchable document(s) provided on CD-ROM for accessability (try finding info on one concept which goes by several different names, and the one you can remember isn't in the index); and a PDB for my Visor so I can take it anywhere.

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

They should just include it on a CD along with the hard copy in Palm format, from there you could copy it to various modules. Ontop of that they could offer different modules with like 4-7 books pre-intalled on it at a reduced price.

Diagrams are the only problem I could see.

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Matt Nichols
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Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Add my vote.

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Registered: Feb 2000
Location:
Posts: 1571

Great Idea

Great IDea...BUT I would prefer it in PDB form. With the memory solutions now available, there is no need to make book type modules. I want to carry around less modules not more.

And yes diagrams is a must!

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Derry NH USA Earth
Posts: 154

Why not on SM or CF cards? It would be easier from a production standpoint. Then all you'd need is a MemPlug and you're good to go!!

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Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 67

Portable books - the rocks!

BUT!

It should be possible to read them on PC, copy to already present PDA, etc. That why I like Adobe Acrobat. Even if Adobe's Acrobat for PDA not so good yet.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

I hate Adobe Acrobat. Its difficult to navigate and the file size is enormous. Most things that are presented in PDF could easily be represented in HTML format and be much more economical.

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Matt Nichols
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Registered: Mar 2000
Location: NC, Indiana
Posts: 465

But PDFs don't have to worry about how well or in what way a browser decides to emulate HTML. With PDF you absolutely for sure know what it will look like. PDF files also look a helluva lot better than HTML text-quality wise. If I wanted an official document to print out I would want it in PDF. That's the way it is already. For example, I was looking at colleges and noticed that all "Download Application for StateU here!" is all in PDF format. I like PDF myself.

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-Vincent

Registered: Jun 2000
Location:
Posts: 594

Yeah, PDF is good & bad for the reasons everyone already listed. I just hope they keep on working on it. Esp. the file sizes.

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"Great Spirits Have Always Encountered Violent Opposition From Mediocre Minds." -- Albert Einstein