Yes, it's nice to be able to make side notes, bookmarks, and place it in a remindable place.
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”?
#32I read on my mobile. If I fall in love with a book then i buy a physical copy for my library.
Same with music and record collection.
I want my kids to be able to browse my stuff and discover the previous decades as I did with my parent's collection
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#33Yes, I prefer physical books as they allow for easier annotating & switching back and forth between pages.
Try a good eink device.
This. My 10" e reader, boox note 2, is a godsend. It runs a barebones android which gives you almost zero distractions.
Annotations are great with the touch sensitive pen.
My reading increased 5-10x, b/c the friction to get that heavy book is gone. Also no more waking up the misses with a bed light, as the backlight is pretty subtle.
Sorry for the sales pitch, but these devices are just awesome.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#34I buy physical tech books and ebooks only if there is no paper version available (then I print what is interesting to me).
The reason is that I have ADHD and using ebooks is too slow. If flipping between pages takes me more than 0.1s I easily get bored often forget what I was looking for and start to procrastinate. There is also an additional reward for using a physical book, that you get to flip the pages that is akin to using a fidget spinner, so looking for information in physical book is more engaging.
I can also have multiple books next to each other with quick access, which is not possible on ebook readers (as far as I know - you have to close one book, open another etc which takes forever and if I get a notification or something popping up, I can easily get distracted and start doing something else entirely).
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#35I don’t buy tech books. Ever. If I want to learn a language I’ll go straight to code (find any simple project to do with it). It’s my way of doing it. Might not be the best, but it works for me.
Same here, books on specific technologies are useless to me because you can learn more from the official manuals and playing with it than from someone else's interpretation of it X versions ago.
The tech books I do get are more meta, books about programming in general or design in general, things that you can't just find in a manual.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#36Nope with an exception for CS academic theory. One year for CS is like a decade for human life and thus almost every IT book gets obsolete after a relase. That's why I read official docs or getting started, they are far more accurate and up to date. In rare occasions where doc is not too good, I check source code - it never lies.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#37Yes, I prefer the physical experience more. It's more portable (holding a book in a good reading position is easier than holding a laptop in a good reading position).
Page navigation is also easier and doesn't change when the viewport is adjusted, which is really jarring.
Plus it's a reminder that I've got the book and should read it, as opposed to existing only as a tab in Brave.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#38Nope with an exception for CS academic theory. One year for CS is like a decade for human life and thus almost every IT book gets obsolete after a relase. That's why I read official docs or getting started, they are far more accurate and up to date. In rare occasions where doc is not too good, I check source code - it never lies.
Yeah it really depends on the book.
I have a lot of algorithm, math and theory books. Theory rarely changes, it’s just added onto.
I also have a few books on C around that I’ve worked through and use as a reference.
Other than that, I just check docs.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#39No post body was provided.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#40I highly prefer physical because I already spend too much time in front of a screen, plus I like the versatility they offer (e.g. highlighting, making notes, bookmarking, moving them around, etc.). The only digital books I have bought were from the Beta / Early Access programs of Manning and the Pragmatic Bookshelf, and few from independent authors who decide to go digital exclusively.