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I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

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Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#221

Post by [deleted] »

peepee1982 wrote: post #133
runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

I feel like this really depends on the topic. When I see a 1000 page tome about every single feature of Photoshop, then nope. I'll google it thanks. History is non-fiction, too. And I'd definitely rather read a book than some blog, because there will be a long thread of things that build up on each other, and I think books are just better suited for that. So, things that require prolonged attention because of an over…

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Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#222

Post by dvirsky »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

I feel the same way about a lot of non fiction, but not all.

First, there's entertaining/pop non-fiction, like, say, Malcom Gladwell's stuff, which has a lot of fluff but at least you enjoy the reading.

There are history books and memoirs that are just interesting - for example I've recently went through the entire series of Churchill's WWII memoirs, they're mostly awesome, though I did skip a couple of less interesting chapters. For these I prefer audiobooks while driving, which make it easier for me to focus.

Then there are CS books where you can pick and choose chapters and don't have to read the entire thing; they just go way deeper than blog posts, so if you want to REALLY know a subject, you better buy a book or two. I don't mean books like Clean Code or The Pragmatic Programmer, etc which I almost never read in their entirety and can be summarized in 10% of their length, but more deep guides to things like Information Retrieval, NLP, Database Internals, etc.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#224

Post by dinkleberg »

ajmurmann wrote: post #218
runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

I'm on the fence about this. For the longest time I'd have 100% agreed with you, but more recently realized that there is value in just having my mind be exposed to the subject for a prolonged amount of time. Sometimes the more interesting insights will be mine, rather than what the content of the book was. It also helps with retention. Of course some books just still aren't worth it. My canonical positive example wo…

I completely agree with this.

I’ve started to put more of an emphasis on “active” reading (for lack of a better word) in which I take what I’m reading and think it through for myself, rather than just passively accepting it.

It is certainly slower than passively reading, but the result is that I actually understand the subject much better.

You could read a dictionary definition of the word courage and vaguely understand it. You could read a full page with examples and understand it better. But when you read Socrates’ dialogue Laches on the meaning of courage, your understanding will be far deeper. Even if you don’t agree with the arguments made, the act of thinking through all of the arguments helps you understand what your own views really are.

Obviously most books aren’t written as Socratic dialogues, but if you take the arguments and stories that are presented throughout the book and actively think on each one, your understanding and retention will really improve.

And this is not to say there aren’t bad books and that many aren’t bloated. But providing you with the opportunity to think on a topic from many different angles through the use of different examples can be invaluable.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#225

Post by powersnail »

My conjecture is two folds:

1. There are more well-written books than blogs. 2. New books are more discoverable than new blogs.

There are more well-written books, because 1) there's a longer history of books being written, and 2). books bring money. Popular books bring tons of money. Blogs on the other hand, is much less remunerative. As a result, if you are going to write something with a lot of effort and care, something packed with information and backed with research, why not publish it?

Books are more discoverable, in the sense that they are usually much more advertised than blogs. Authors and publishers will want to push and promote their books, to books stores, to Amazon, to Google/Meta, to book tubers, and whatever ad platforms out there.

Blog writers, even the really good ones, are mostly laissez faire about promoting their own website. In fact, blogs with aggressive marketing are usually shit blogs.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#226

Post by shepherdjerred »

ckozlowski wrote: post #183
allturtles wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. This applies to many non-fiction best-sellers in the self-help and pop science categories, but is very unfair as a generalization about non-fiction. (And bloat is not restricted to non-fiction, either: do we really need 10,000 pages of Wheel of Time or Stormlight Archive?). I'm looking at my book…

Incidentally, I was given a copy of Peltzold's "Code", second edition (2022), for Christmas. I'd read the first many, many years ago. I'm looking forward to reading it again.

It's a fantastic book. I'm surprised universities don't assign it in introduction courses.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#227

Post by Barrin92 »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

>A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. You get the same points, but in minutes instead of hours.

This culture is hugely detrimental. You simply cannot in-depth absorb knowledge about anything in minutes. This isn't how the brain works. Churning through dozens of articles and spending small amounts of time with each one will leave you with no recollection of any of it in a year. It's not a serious way to learn.

Unless we're talking about promotional campaign books or something of similarly low quality, non-fiction books elaborate on things at length for a reason. Details, motivations and nuances matter. And you don't get that out of a Sparknotes summary. You will not really get what an author wants to say without spending time with his or her work. It takes people years to truly grok and write down what they want to teach, you're not going to learn it in an hour.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#228

Post by snidane »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

Another trick is to search the book title on youtube. There is a fair chance the author wants to promote the book and delivers the entire message in one hour speech in their own words instead of in hundreds of fluffed pages in the book. You can decide if you would like the buy book after watching the video.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#229

Post by agrimonyhal »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

The quality and quantity of blogs has increased so much that many books seem too cumbersome in comparison.

One thing I like about following good blogs is seeing ideas from authors develop week to week. I think this encourages a deeper understanding of the topic and makes some books seem immediately outdated in comparison.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#230

Post by LAC-Tech »

I've been foregoing books more and more, and just reading papers. Concept in compsci I want to understand? Why bother with a university text where I can just freely grab the pdf (inevitably from the 70s and 80s) and just dig into that? It has more detail and more context.
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