Books

It’s only 80 pages. It’s only quarter inch thick. At first glance you may not think there is any substance to this book at all. But you would be wrong. The reason? Seth has removed all the fluff a book usually has. He gets right to the point. It causes one to reflect on the path you are on, and decide, right now, no delay, to make a change if one is necessary, or “stick” to the course, or the Dip as he calls it, and see the process through.

A couple of things really hit me as I read the whole book yesterday. One, people get scared so they quit. They run out of money so they quit. They run out of time so they quit. I’ve come up on all three of these. Seth also coins a phrase, Serial Quitter. Someone who is always quitting when things get tough, or scary, or painful. I see this a lot, not only with myself but from others as well. I think it’s one of the reasons there are so many failures in small business today.

I’m reading it again. Will study more closely the factors and the resolutions. Take inventory of my own path. Which projects are important, which aren’t.

But the best part of this while experience so far has been the question; Are you the very best at what you are doing? If not, quit, right now, today.

More after I read this book several more times. Thanks to Ash Buckles for the book. I’m glad Ash and Phil Burns are as excited about it as I am.

This was a mediocre book at best. I was really hoping that it was much better than it was. I had read several reviews which stated the writing style, the grammar, the pace, was poor. I have to agree. While I think a biography should include a wide range of experiences which gives the reader a real sense of the person, dragging on for pages about the same topic is boring.

I guess my expectation was set too high, and that was my fault. I was on a waiting list at the library for months. Once the book came in I was very excited. The  anticipation was quickly lowered to dismay after the first few chapters.

Anyway, read it or not, but my suggestion is to pass. There is some good material on the early Apple days, but in the end you’ll be disappointed. I was.

I just finished The Long Tail. Interesting book. I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars. There isn’t anything wrong with the book, but it didn’t blow my socks off. I got the gist in the first few chapters. I’m seeing Long Tail scenarios all over the place. Funny no one has ever tagged like this before. Read it, but get it from the Library.

The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

I’ve been watching the technology books on the shelves at my local book store dwindle over the past few years. Especially hard core books for subjects like programming and certification. I know you can buy books online for a fraction of the price and that’s where most people are buying books these days.

But in the work place who actually uses tech books anymore? With the Internet at my fingertips and the all knowing Google, do books actually have relevance any more?

Programming

Used to be when I had a programming question I would grab my Professional XML book, or the Programming in C# book. But no longer. Now, I zip over to Code Project for relevant code examples that are based on current technologies. And that’s not the only site. There are hundreds of portal sites, blogs, examples, forums and so on. It’s a good thing Google knows how to program, because I might not look very good to my customers without it… kidding of course.

Certification

When I started studying for my MCSD, I dusted off a couple of older books I had on the core topics like SQL 2000 Administration, Analyzing Requirements, and C# Development. But even now, I can get as much from study forums and blogs than I ever could reading a book. I can get almost immediate feed back and assistance from the community when ever I need it. A book can’t give you that.

Digital Books

In the fast paced world of software development, I don’t have time to thumb through a book for help. Some might wonder, if I need a book, should I even be doing this? Well, not everyone has a photographic memory, nor do I have the necessity to remember every little nuance of a programming language. I know a good amount, and don’t typically need help, but when I do, it’s nice to know I don’t have to throw down $70 to have access to a small and typically outdated piece of information.

One more indication that tech books are becoming extinct? My local library. Where they used to have almost two entire rows of tech books, it has been reduced to half of one row. Wow… that was amazing to me.

If you write tech books are you concerned that your efforts may not get the attention it once did a few years ago? Is the effort worth it?

I’d pay for an e-book maybe. They are portable. But as I said. With technology, information becomes outdated quickly. That’s why maybe book blogs would be a good idea. Sell an e-book online, then sell upgrades or revisions for a fee. Users would subscribe to an e-book. Then be given periodic updates for a set amount of time. What if an Author could continue to make money on books already purchased? I’d pay for that if I knew the information was going to be updated or improved.

Now I’m just thinking on the fly but it seems to make sense. By the way, I have a shelf full of outdated books that I don’t use. Probably a thousand dollars worth. If anyone would like them, let me know. I am planning on donating them to the local library very soon. I’m going digital.

I just finished reading The Four Agreements. Very interesting book. Don Miguel Ruiz did a pretty good job with this book. It’s a little too touchy feely for me, but it gets the point across.