I used to buy computer books. In fact, I used to buy a lot of computer books. There was not a month that would go by where I didn't buy a least one book. I really enjoy reading them.
Now, I have only purchased a couple of books in the last few years.
What changed? Did I quit reading computer books? Nope. I now read them online. I read the same books that are on the book shelves at Barnes & Noble or Borders. I also read them legally.
How do I do this? I joined the Safari Books Online from O'Reilly, You know, the guys who print the animal pictures on the cover of their books. They have a service where they take the same books that are published and they format them for the screen. You can read them, print them, annotate them, what ever you like.
Of course this comes at a price. They offer several different options for their service. When I joined they just had a bookshelf. Now they have a bookshelf and a library option.
The bookshelf comes in several flavors:
Basic Starter: 5 books; No downloads; $9.99 Monthly or $109.99 annually
Basic Small: 10 books; No downloads; $14.99 Monthly or $159.99 annually
Basic Medium: 20 books; No downloads; $24.99 Monthly or $269.99 annually
Basic Large: 30 books; No downloads; $29.99 Monthly or $329.99 annually
Max Small: 10 books; 5 downloads per month; $19.99 Monthly or $219.99 annually
Max Medium: 20 books; 5 downloads per month; $29.99 Monthly or $329.99 annually
Max Large: 30 books; 5 downloads per month; $34.99 Monthly or $379.99 annually
If you have a Max subscription, you can also purchase additional downloads if needed.
The number of books refer to the number of books that you have on your virtual bookshelf. Once you put a book on your bookshelf, it must stay there for 30 days. After that it can be removed a replaced with another book for no additional charge.
O'Reilly has recently added another level of service called the Library where you no longer have the 30 day restriction. You can view all 4000+ books every month if you choose. The service is $39.99 Monthly or $439.99 per year.
I currently own a Basic Small Bookshelf and pay $159.99 per year. I easily read 20 to 30 books a year with this subscription and figure that I am saving at least $400 per year by using this service.
Highly recommended.