Jean Hollis Weber, on 4 Feb 2010: > Several people have been talking recently about video tutorials, and > we have an ongoing discussion here about "books" (whether ODT, PDF, or > printed) vs wiki vs... whatever for delivery of docs. > My personal interest is in books in various forms: printed, PDF, and > e-books.
Mine too, though that is probably because I'm pretty old-school and prefer a full user guide book (in some form) that I can go through, knowing it is both comprehensive and authoritative. Wikis, while useful for quick answers to specific questions, are often - for me at least - an unsatisfactory documentation medium. That said, I recognise that my usage patterns and preferences are often *not* in line with the general populace, the people we are trying to cater for. Therefore, wikis and other formats clearly need to be available if they are likely to be expected, though the content probably need not be replicated precisely across all formats. > I am really keen about the new kid on the block, arriving in a few > months: the iPad. > > The iPad is exciting for several reasons, including the fact that its > ebooks will use the free and open standard ePub format. Even better, > there are free and open source tools available to produce ePub books > on Linux, Mac, and Windows. E-books are certainly a major buzzword of late, caused presumably by the rash of portable devices recently released or announced. Although I know little about them, I do hope that this is more than a fad and becomes a major shift in publishing. The iPad can only help towards that outcome, and I welcome it. Plus, it looks *really* cool! So, with this optimistic twang in my voice, I definitely think that we should be looking to publish parallel e-book versions sooner rather than later. You do like to make work for yourself, don't you Jean?! ;) -- James
