Article:  |
A Computer Book Author's Manifesto | |
| Subject: | Amen! | |
| Date: | 2004-12-13 12:40:38 | |
| From: | BillSiggelkow | |
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Kathy, I haven't read Head First Java; but I would say that you are an excellent writer. If the tech publishing industry has writers such as yourself I am confident that we can survive and even excel. I believe that the need for computer books has not gone away; in fact, there are so many new technologies based on open source that yearn for good books. I agree with you that focusing on fun is one good approach. I attended a tech session on Aspect-oriented programming; after the class my thoughts were "wow, this stuff is cool -- I want to learn about it!" For geeks, I think that is what motivates them. I think another thing is that there are so many choices when it comes to software that no one has enough money to buy all the books they want. It's like we need a middle ground between the base documentation (usually just the API) available on the web and the focused writing found in a typical computer book. I mean I think it would be cool to have a book that showed me how to build a shopping cart web application in 4 different languages (e.g. perl, python, struts, .NET). Personally, I do not think there is a replacement for the printed page; and I do not think that books will go out-of-style. I think the key is marketing (as you have pointed out). Again, I appreciate your thoughts and ideas; I hope that the powers that be (as well all of us aspiring writers) take your message to heart. |
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