Yes. As others stated, for non-fiction still my go-to is physical. Ideally I like to have the two, so I can "ctrl-f" if I want to find something fast.
Also for example I bought a copy of "Python in a nutshell" because I can read it on the train very easily.
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”?
#82To be honest, I don't think using programming language (e.g. learn Go) books is a great way to approach learning as it's a bit too passive and often ends up as coffee table material. I'd argue trying to build a project and using the latest documentation helps things stick better. Obviously better if you have to do it for work. On the other hand, programming and architecture concepts (e.g. designing data intensive app…
Technical programming language books can be, and are great if commit to typing out every single line of code presented!
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#83Yes, but not exclusively. The notion of 'casually leafing through a book and reading something that catches my eye' has no satisfactory analog for me in ebooks. Annotations are still kinda sucky on ebooks compared to marginalia, post-it notes amd what not. having a non electronic medium when i spend 50+ hours a week gawping at a screen is a nice mental break.
dont get me wrong, im not a luddite. i do use ebooks, and they gave some killer features, but I prefer paper. Heres another slightly perverse example: search in ebook is too good. it takes you straight to the thing being requested. in doing so, it robs me of the experience of getting familiar with the totality of the text that i get by leafing through (think of it as slightly better linear search). over time, that leafing activity gives me a really strong mental map of the whole work that i just dont get with ebooks. ymmv.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#84Yes. 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 agree with everything you said except that for me it also applies to fiction.
I read a lot of fiction on my Kindle, and it's never as satisfying as leafing through a paper novel. I don't read start to finish, I tend to go back to favorite passages, or to re-read a character's introduction some chapters before (and if I get lost, some other passage is sure to catch my eye!) and ebooks make this painful.
My way of reading is very "physical", for lack of a better word. Ebooks are not good for this at all.
I still like my Kindle, because nothing beats having hundreds of novels on a single lightweight device. But to me that's its biggest and almost only advantage. (Secondary: adjusting font size as my eyesight grows less precise with age).
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#85Not since I started subscribing to O'Reilly's online ebook system confusingly called "Safari."
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#86Yes, 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.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#87Honestly, no, because the book prices are kind of high for the average income in my country. I usually download them from the internet (quasi-legally - since internet laws are effectively non-existant here) and print them at home if I really want paperback.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#88Yes. 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.
Leaving technical books in the bathroom is a crucial hack for lifelong adult learning.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#89Yes occasionally. I try to purchase most texts as PDFs to avoid the hassle of moving hundreds of lbs of books around, but will splurge on high quality physical texts.
The only issue is that there’s a lot of really high quality work out there! It’s hard to be picky.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
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