At 01:42 PM 8/9/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Thanks for the insight Glenn. Still, books with titles like "C++
>Programming in 21 Days" irritate me because, unlike the Dummy series,
>the "21 Days" title does not have a sense of humour and comes close to
>lying. A more honest title would be "Be a Mediocre C++ Programmer in 21
>Days." The author may have penned an excellent book, but I don't want
>to support the publishers who use hyperbole to such an extent.
Not to defend the use of hyperbole in titles, but the idea behind the "21
Days" series is that the book is comprised of 21 self-contained chapters,
each of which is about the size and scope that the subject matter and
example code can be worked through in 1 day. If over the course of weeks
months or years, you diligently work through the chapters, you should
become proficient and knowledgable at the subject matter. This does not
mean that if you start on August 1st, by August 21st you are an expert Palm
developer, although I agree the title can easily be construed to imply just
that. The same goes for the "24 hour" series, which if taken literally is
even more ridiculous.
It's all just marketing and packaging, don't take it too seriously. People
tend to buy products with clever marketing (Air Jordan sneakers, Apple
Macintosh, Volkswagen Beetle, etc). Clearly these forms of advertising
contain send messages (jump higher, think differently, be young and cool),
but that doesn't necessarily mean the products themselves have less
quality, even though they couldn't possibly live up to the message the ads
are spouting.
No need to flame me - I'm not condoning, supporting or defending the idea
that "Programming in 21 Days" is the most appropriate and truthful title
for a book on a technical topic. It is interesting (and valid feedback for
any publishers who might be listening in!) to see that such titles truly do
irritate and offend a segment of the very audience they are aimed at.
Glenn Bachmann
Bachmann Software and Services, LLC
http://www.bachmannsoftware.com
Software for Handheld & Wireless Computing, Windows and the Internet
Authors of "Palm Programming", published by Macmillan/Sams, and home of
Bachmann Print Manager, the only graphical printing solution for the Palm
Computing Platform
