eBooks, Publishers and Book Sellers

In the past couple of months I’ve become quite a fan of eBooks.  I’ve always bought and used numerous technology books – sometimes I’ve read them front to back, and sometimes I’ve used them more strictly for reference and/or learning.  I have tried reading/using eBooks in the past, but found them somewhat lacking.  There have been some interesting studies I’ve read lately about reading habits when people have eReader devices, and I decided that the price of the devices had reached a point that it was time to give it a try.
I purchased a Nook (Barnes and Noble’s eReader) about 2 months ago.  Then about about a month later I found a very good deal on a new Kindle 3 (Amazon’s eReader), so I bought it as well.  I expect that soon I’ll decide which is a better fit for me and probably give the other to my daughter to use.  I’ll add a post about my thoughts on the devices later.
As in the past I have found that trying to read on a computer (desktop, laptop or netbook) is difficult for me.  I also find it difficult to use the eReader devices for accessing an eBook as reference.  While I’m not sure what I dislike about reading on the computer, the difficultly of scanning and slowness of searching on the reader make it less than ideal for looking things up and generally using it for reference.  Certainly the portability, battery life, ability to carry many books and quick power on/off of the eReader devices make them great for reading.
With these issues the question becomes, what is the right/best eBook format for me to use.  Remember that everything I’m talking about here is related to reading technical books and documents, not general novels or ‘fun’ reading.  First here are the basic options for me and my devices (see this Wikipedia article for more details):

• PDF: no explanation needed supported by the computer, Nook and Kindle
• ePub: an open/official standard of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) supported by various eReaders including the Nook
• mobi: another open standard also supported by various eReaders including the Kindle

If I only have the choice of one format, I first decide how I expect to use the book – if it is a general knowledge book that I expect to read (like Being Geek or Cloud Application Architectures) then I will choose an eReader format (ePub or mobi).  If instead it is a book that I feel will be useful for reference (like Programming Windows Azure) then I will tend to choose the PDF format, even if I expect to read the book cover-to-cover as well.
The experience of reading an eReader format on one of the devices is very good.  I have really enjoyed using both the Nook and the Kindle and found that I am definitely reading more now that I have an eReader device.
For me PDF is ‘the’ format for use on the computer (even though it is possible to access both ePub and mobi as well).  It is easily scrolled on screen and it has good/quick search capabilities even for very large documents.  I can also use it on either the Nook or the Kindle, but it is lacking on both devices.  The Nook with ‘reflow’ the PDF giving the option to change the font size and generally treating it as a ‘native’ format.  But every PDF document I’ve read on it has had some issues.  These range from the inability to enlarge images to very poor handling of some document formats, especially ordered lists.  The Kindle does not ‘reflow’ the PDF, instead it displays the PDF just as you would see it on the computer.  In the normal view this makes the document barely readable for me (it may just be my aging eyes…).  It is possible to enlarge the document, but in that case you are only able to view a part of the page at a time, requiring ‘page turns’ to see the top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right portions of the page.  This makes it very difficult to read.  The other option, the one that I have found to work best for me, is to rotate the screen on the Kindle to be sideways.  Doing this makes the image larger and I am able to easily read it.  This breaks each ‘page’ of the PDF into 3 sections for viewing, and each page turn walks you through the document as you would expect.
I have also tried to use various tools to convert PDF documents to both ePub and mobi formats, but I have not yet found a tools that does this very well.  If you have any suggestions please let me know!
Next let’s talk about where to get technical eBooks.  I have found that both Amazon and Barnes and Noble have many of the same books available, each formatted for their own devices.  So far I have only purchased 1 or 2 technical eBooks directly from Amazon and non from Barnes and Noble.  There are 3 reasons that I have not purchased more books from the makers of my devices:

1. I have bought some books that I knew I would want as reference books, therefore I wanted them in PDF format
2. I have found that buying directly from the publisher will sometimes have some extra perks (for instance the choice of multiple formats, discounts for purchases of physical and eBook combinations and free updates)
3. I have found some discount codes (by searching the web) that I’ve been able to use directly with the publisher, but that have not been available at the ‘book’ stores

One quick gripe about Barnes and Noble – As a paying member of their Membership program I often receive coupons for discounts on books as well as having the standard discounts to use everyday, unfortunately non of these discounts apply to the purchase of eBooks, I personally feel this is a failure, and I am certain I would have bought at least 1 book from them by now if I had been able to use the same discounts I could use to by the physical book.
So far I have purchased eBooks directly from the following publishers:

• O’Reilly: So far, hands down, the best overall experience I’ve had purchasing eBooks!  O’Reilly provides their eBooks in multiple formats – I usually download the PDF, ePub and mobi formats when I buy, and that covers all my reading options!  They have discounts to purchase pBook/eBook bundles and also offer discounts on eBooks for which you already own the physical book , or discounts on physical books if you own the eBook – FTW!  Finally my eBook library is always available to download, just incase I need access to one of my books, but I don’t have a copy of it with me at the time!  Great job guys!
• Manning: They also offer discounts on pBook/eBook bundles.  So far of the books I’ve purchased they only offer them in PDF, but they are beginning to add ePub and mobi formats – and they have indicated that if they make these formats available for any eBooks you have purchased you will be able to download the new formats.  One think I do not care for is that when you purchase an eBook you are sent a link from which you can download, but it is only good for 5 days.
• WROX Press: I have been a fan of WROX books for several years – I’ve even done technical reviews of several of their books in the past and written some supplemental content for a couple of books.  I do feel that some of their titles over the past few years have not lived up to the same quality as their initial books so I am more selective about which books I buy.  They indicate that they have both PDF and ePub formats, but so far I have only received/used PDFs.
• APress: Overall the buying experience from APress worked well.  As far as I know they only provide PDF format at this time. For the books I've purchased from them this has been no problem as I intended them largely to be used for reference.

Another reason that I’ve bought books from both O’Reilly and Manning is based on their ‘eBook Deal of the Day (DotD)’ programs.  I also know that APress has a similar offer, but I have not purchased any DotD books from them yet.  You can get updates on their daily deals in various ways – I am following both O’Reilly and Manning on Twitter.
Please leave some comments to let me know your thoughts on technical eBooks and any experiences that you have had the may differ from mine!

Book Review: Being Geek

I recently read Being Geek by Michael Lopp (O’Reilly 2010).  I’ve been holding off publishing my review of this book waiting for my wife to offer her opinion of what the author has to say to spouses/partners to help them understand us ‘geeks’ – unfortunately with her schedule and school she hasn’t had time, and I didn’t want to wait any longer!  So maybe later I’ll update or post again with what she thought about the description of geeks and how to live with them (See Chapter 23 – The Nerd Handbook).

The Good: The book was really a pretty quick read.  It has lots of ‘gems’ of information – many of which you will find to be self-evident and well-know once you read them, but may be things that you never fully comprehended before. Some examples of this include:

The Itch (chapter 3) - overall as tech professionals are a pretty mobile bunch, I don’t know the exact stats, but I know I have averaged about 3 years per job, and I know many others who have similar resumes.  This chapter describes some signs of an impending itch to change jobs, and gives advice to support analyzing and understanding the cause of the itch – helping you to make better choices;

The Culture Chart (chapter 8) - In any job it is necessary to know the organization chart – you must be aware of who wields the power and can make or break your position in the company.  But equally important (maybe more important) is to gain an understanding of the un-official leaders, movers and shakers in the company.  There are many people who do not show up prominently on the official org chart, but they make things happen and drive many of the initiatives in the company;

The Impossible (chapter 13) – It seems like so much of what we are asked to do is impossible, but there are times when ‘management’ doesn’t even seem to try to mask it.  These can be very stressful and/or exciting times.  You will need to analyze the situation and determine if the the impossible request is a sign of insanity or an amazing opportunity in the making.  I remember seeing a poster with Walt Disney saying something like – it’s kind of fun to do the impossible.  And there is really nothing quite like it!

These are just a few of the insights that are presented in the book – I expect that you will find snippets of wisdom in nearly every chapter!

The Bad: The only caution I would suggest about this book is the unnecessary (in my opinion) use of foul language.  I am certainly used to hearing plenty of ‘colorful’ discussion at work (and in other environments), but I would prefer a little more effort on the part of the author and editor to present the content in a cleaner manner.  I offer this in the review just as a word of caution to readers who may be offended.  For me the content trumps this unfortunate flaw, but be warned…

Summary: This book is a quick easy read that really delivers on giving the reader many insights into living and working as a geek (or nerd if you prefer the term).  Many of the chapters will help the young and less experienced professionals chart a course for success in their career.  But there are also many chapters that provide some pretty deep views into the life of a manager.  These chapters should be of value to both practitioners and managers alike.