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20040110 Saturday January 10, 2004

SourceBeat - would you buy a subscription? I came across this site last week and I'm wondering what Java developers think of it?

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How it works differently than the traditional publishing model is that instead of buying one static book, users will subscribe to a particular book for 12 months. The expert authors provide updates each month on their respective topics, ensuring that you always have the latest and greatest information on your topic. No more buying multiple books on the same topic in order to cover all the areas you need. In addition, as a subscriber you can interact with the author through list servers and weblogs. This way you can let them know your thoughts on current items and also what you would like to see in future updates.

It sure sounds like a good model, but would you buy a subscription? Personally, I hate online books (HTML or PDF) because I like to have a book in front of me. I like to take books to the library or to a quiet room, eliminate distractions, and read. If I'm on the computer reading, I get distracted and end up reading blogs or writing code. The model seems cool though - the ability to shape an authors writing and get them to cover topics on whatever technology you're subscribed to. It'd be cool if it was only $29.95/year for all books rather than each book, but it's probably still cheaper than buying books from your favorite bookstore. Posted in Java at Jan 10 2004, 05:51:16 PM MST 1 Comment

Comments:

Sounds pretty cool, especially the interacting with authors through listservs and weblogs part. How'd you find out about this, are you signed up as an author?

Posted by Dave Johnson on January 13, 2004 at 02:53 PM MST #

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