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Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#131

Post by ExtremisAndy »

xanathar wrote: post #43

Yes. It's mildly embarrassing but I've learned most languages and tech in the same way: buy a book, leave it in the bathroom and whenever I pee or poop I open it at a random page and read. If it's a new page, good if not then it's a good refresh. With ebooks it just doesn't work, with mobile devices I get distracted.

Wow. This method is so ridiculous I just might have to copy it.

Seriously though, I hadn't thought about using that time (which most people are guaranteed to have every single day, several times a day) for learning new things. I think I may start using this method for exploring things that I'd "like to learn some day" but that aren't urgent/currently important for my job. This would be a way to at least make me get started learning something genuinely new!

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#132

Post by phist_mcgee »

mellavora wrote: post #103

One of my favorite reads was (Bruce Bauer, 2nd edition). I bought it because I wanted to learn how to use a sextant. This book is THE book for learning how to operate a sextant. I quickly realized that actually I didn't want to learn how to use a sextant. I read it cover to cover. All those important points, so well structured and organized, and I didn't have to remember a single one of them! I could just let it pass…

And to this day, still stuck on that deserted island - at an unknown latitude and longitude.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#133

Post by yodsanklai »

I much prefer physical books, but as I'm adopting a more nomadic lifestyle, I'm having issue carrying my books.

Question to ebooks readers, why system do you recommend to read them? iPad? kindle? computer? phone? what's the preferred format?

I don't like reading on the computer as I'm too easily distracted. And I had bad experience with kindle (many years ago, it was painfully slow, just good enough for a novel but not suitable for technical books).

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#134

Post by orsenthil »

To learn programming, I think, doing helps. So keeping something online to copy-type/try, understand (and repeat) has been a preferable way for me. Ebooks work for this workflow better. I can easily skim the content and get to the point soon with ebooks.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#135

Post by cjbgkagh »

I like having a physical reminder of books I should be reading. I do eventually get to them. With ebooks it’s not the same. Plus I can read it away from a computer and other distractions. The value of my time spent reading a book dwarves the actual cost of the book and if I decide I’m never going to read a book I can donate it. I also get ebook copies of the same books as a reference I can access anywhere.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#136

Post by ps901 »

I once was spending large amounts of money on physical tech books, mostly on new programming languages or frameworks. However, I felt that by the time I was buying them they were already outdated often. Today, I usually start learning by just doing it, using the new tech and keep my way googling until I somehow become comfortable.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#137

Post by vl »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #24

Yes. I read fiction as ebooks (basically exclusively since days of palm pilot and Treo, then kindle and phone and tablets), but far prefer physical books when learning a new topic including tech. Few reasons but I think it's at least partially because: 1. It's easier to mark or hold with my finger e.g. A table or reference or definition page, then return or glance at it as I progress next few pages of that topic. I f…

I haven't used Javascript/Typescript for the few years and some needed to refresh it, so I bought a copy of Modern JavaScript for the Impatient. This is great book, can't recommend it highly enough. Few hours reading and I was up to speed.

The trick is though that you need to spend some time choosing a book. Random software book is crap. In my case I needed a concise refresher, so I found this specific book after reading reviews for bunch of the books on Amazon. I.e. before getting a book, figure out what you actually expect from it.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#138

Post by drBonkers »

jasode wrote: post #51

I used to buy hundreds of physical computer books but I've switched 100% to ebooks. I noticed that I finished the ebooks more often than physical ones and when I dissected my behavior, I realized that it was the heavy weight (e.g. 3 lbs) of the physical book that nudged me away from reading it . You can't hold a thick computer book in 1 hand. And propping it on your chest while laying down is also uncomfortable. Yes,…

Yes, this is the same with me. I love physical books, but being able to hangout anywhere with an iPad mini and read is the killer feature that’s getting me to switch over.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#139

Post by justrudd »

jcpst wrote: post #86

Yes, and No. Yes, I still buy physical books to learn something new. I value being away from a screen. But I don’t buy the “Learn X” style of introductory material. All that info is online. I buy the dense deep-dives that are filled with advanced esoteric knowledge, and may take years to grok. Things that will not change much after 5-10 years. Something that I can reference and go back to over and over.

Same. Except the books I buy aren’t advanced :)

The books I can see from my couch - Code Complete (McConnell), Transaction Processing (Gray), Algorithms (Cormen), Algorithms (Sedgwick), Starting Strength (Rippetoe), All the 5/3/1 books (Wendler), etc.

Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?

#140

Post by overgard »

To be honest it's pretty rare to go book at all for me. I mostly find free online resources to be good enough. I still have this giant bookshelf of outdated tech books that are pretty much just of value as fire fuel, so I really kind of hate physical books except for things that are timeless
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