namyaf: Bookshelf

Last month, I started a new journey with a new company after being with another company for just shy of four years. I remember my first few days or so with my previous employer and I remember making separate trips to my car to get some books that I as a developer thought I needed to perform my job effectively and efficiently. Looking back at those four years, I cannot remember opening any of those books for any of the technical knowledge in them. I've been at my new company for a little over a month now, and I have yet to bring any of those books to my new cubicle. The only thought that I had of bringing them was to use them as a monitor stand like many other developers as well as myself who are too cheap to buy a real stand. One could argue that the need to read a 500 to 1000 page book of if statements is not a need anymore because of the amount of articles, blogs, and videos on the internet. This statement is false in my opinion and developers should be reading more books than they currently do. The art that puts chapters full of technical knowledge is getting lost and we may suffer from it. It is similar to how musicians no longer have to think too much about how their songs tie together in their albums. We live in a text message/youtube/itunes/google world where texting, watching short videos, downloading one song, and skimming articles is the norm. With all that said, there is still a need for books, maybe not physical, but books that you can read online.

The way that I continue to read technical books is by subscribing to Safari Books Online.

By doing this, I have replaced this bookshelf:

Physical bookshelf in garage above toolbox

With this bookshelf:

Virtual bookshelf within Safari Books Online

A few great features of Safari Books Online that I like are as follows:

1. Notes/Tags/Highlighting - You are able to create notes by selecting text within the book. These notes are available even after you remove your book from the bookshelf.

2. Bookmarks - You can add bookmarks to the books you are reading. If you remove a book from your bookshelf, the bookmark will not go away and will stay there if you add the book back to your bookshelf later.

3. Great Selection - There is a great selection of books new and old. The following is a book that I plan on reading soon that a co-worker recommended. I can't remember searching for a book that wasn't available on Safari Books Online.

4. Price - The price is ridiculous, but in a good way. You can start a free 10 day trial and after that it starts out as a 10 book bookshelf at $19.99. You can change that like I did to a 5 book bookshelf for $9.99, but if you want to go back to a 10 book, you may have to pay $27.99 for it. For me, the 5 book is perfect.