[UPHPU] free books

[MilesTogoe]

thebigdog wrote:
>> Why do you think that is? Is it too hard to circulate the books, or 
>> are they bad titles, or do people prefer online material?
>
> I think it might be a combination of a couple things:
>
> - no interest
> - no knowledge about it
> - possibly hard to get access (coordinating it, remote person)
> - online is easier
> - purchasing is faster
>
> we have not really discussed it with user all that often. especially 
> on the mailing list. we do have some remote users and users that do 
> not attend the meetings. sometimes it is faster to just order/purchase 
> the book.
>
> -
On-line / electronic copies are far more desirable for some of us (in 
fact I'm now insisting that we only use digital versions of everything 
(we've gone paperless). 

A pdf copy is also far easier to get to someone to review, then to have 
linked from a user group library web page. 

In the bigger picture, I guess the publishing industry hasn't figured 
out how to make money if they distribute on a downloadable version.  
What we really need is the iTunes concept - people will gladly pay $1-2 
for a downloadable copy and then they don't have to worry about 
pirating.    Of course we also need a more convenient, tablet-like 
laptop so you can read in the bathroom, bus, barber shop, etc.