Yes.
I do not need to charge a book when on the road.
Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
91–100 of 184 posts
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#92Once there's a book for Rust of the same caliber and depth as e.g. Stroustrup's for C++, I'll get that. But "how to?" books. No. There's no point. The web does that.
I also have a hard time reading books these days because I just fall asleep once I curl up with them.
I do occasionally pick up reference books and flip through them but don't in general buy new ones. For some specialized domain I'll try to find classic CS textbooks on the topic. But their price has gotten crazy.
But I did just line up all my classics (Knuth, Smalltalk Blue Book, "The Linux Programming Interface" etc.) in a nice line on my desk so they'd be visible in my webcam for calls ;-) Nice and pretentious.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#93Yes. 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…
> 2. I cannot explain this but with ebook I don't get a sense of progression or framework relationship. I think with physical book my brain "maps" knowledge to something that's at beginning middle or end of book. And or it's keenly aware that this topot took two pagds thjs topic took 7 pages. Layout of tables and content and lists is firmer. Not sure how to explain it but I find that physical progression through the book solidifies it in my brain.
I'll just post my favorite comment again (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30183933):
>> Also, when I try to remember something I have red on a printed book, - sometimes - I can remember where on the page it was written, what else was on the page, or even what the page looked like. I experience none of that when reading on my smartphone.
>This is so obvious to me but more than once I have hit the typical robot HN user on this topic for whom it doesn't matter the medium because he's an eidetic machine. So I'll just post this:
>> Beyond treating individual letters as physical objects, the human brain may also perceive a text in its entirety as a kind of physical landscape. When we read, we construct a mental representation of the text in which meaning is anchored to structure. The exact nature of such representations remains unclear, but they are likely similar to the mental maps we create of terrain—such as mountains and trails—and of man-made physical spaces, such as apartments and offices. Both anecdotally and in published studies, people report that when trying to locate a particular piece of written information they often remember where in the text it appeared. We might recall that we passed the red farmhouse near the start of the trail before we started climbing uphill through the forest; in a similar way, we remember that we read about Mr. Darcy rebuffing Elizabeth Bennett on the bottom of the left-hand page in one of the earlier chapters.
>https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-scr...
>And repost my comment from one of those times:
>>> The value provided by a physical map of a book is knowing how far along you are in the book, yet that's also available in a visual form in an ebook as well. You can even riffle through pages on most e-readers as well, seeing a preview of the page as you move quickly forward or backwards.
>>> Aside from weight, what value is the physical map really providing?
>> No, it provides more.
>> Actually your brain maps physical properties of the book to actual content, creating an overlay map over the story or the content (and our brain is really good at mentally mapping things). This is that map that is being used to know where in the book a particular piece of information is.
>> Reading on e-reader is more linear than reading a paper book. See: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-scr... https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.236/ and https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/aug/19/readers-absorb...
>> Besides, no e-reader today can let your riffle through pages as fast as paper book.
>> When you are in a novel, or in a manual, you have some kinetic and touch feedback to build memories of where's what. The book becomes an extension (à la proprioception) with much less friction than an e-read for which you have to wait for visual feedback (screen refreshing).
>> With paper books things are at the tip of your fingers.
>> E-reader have more friction.
>> That's a reason why I only read novels on e-reader and jot notes in a notepad for non-fiction books.
>> If I had the budget I'd only have physical books.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#94Tech books are quickly out of date so it just feels like a waste of material. I’m not sure eBook is much better though.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#95Yes. 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…
Opposite. I need ctrl-F on books. I get in, read and then I am able to revisit things I made need to quickly.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#96never did, books become outdated too quickly, so I use online resources
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#97Conceptually, the book is a mediocre method of learning a language or tech subject. Anything "Learn X the hard way" with recent commits will be more helpful. The concept is to run the exercises needed to gain fluency in the key features and accessing/understanding the core documentation. A standalone book frozen in time with idiosyncratic documentation is not helpful.
At their best, books can provide analogies and parables to build a narrative about a technology without specifics.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#98Yes. 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.
Instead of that I read technical books/websites on/near a laptop that I can make flashcards on, then do Anki on the toilet.
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#99Once there's a book for Rust of the same caliber and depth as e.g. Stroustrup's for C++, I'll get that. But "how to?" books. No. There's no point. The web does that. I also have a hard time reading books these days because I just fall asleep once I curl up with them. I do occasionally pick up reference books and flip through them but don't in general buy new ones. For some specialized domain I'll try to find classic…
I'm studying Programming Rust (O'Reilly, 2nd edition one year old, 800+pp) and I think it's fantastic. I am a better programmer for it.
4.6 stars wtih 200+ reviews on Amazon, for what it's worth.
(owner of Knuth and TLPI)
Re: Ask HN: Do you still buy physical tech books like “Learn Rust” or “Learn Go”?
#100Yes. 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…
Opposite. I need ctrl-F on books. I get in, read and then I am able to revisit things I made need to quickly.
Prefer physical books for everything except when I need to ctrl+f but there is usually a pdf version of the book I can do that on and then just actually go there on the physical.