In case you are wondering where to find ebooks to try out, you can find them
at the following newsgroups:

alt.binaries.e-book
alt.binaries.e-books
alt.binaries.e-book.technical

Most are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.

Note that these are not all legal ebooks, many have been scanned from the
publishers pages. There are debates going on that conclude that using ebooks
is like using royalty free MP3s, the person who wrote the book is not
rewarded for there efforts.

True legal sources of technical books can be found at:

www.ebooktech.com

Mitch

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On Tue, 5 Feb 2002 19:52:17 -0800, Mitchell Waite wrote:
> In case you are wondering where to find ebooks to try out, you can find them
> at the following newsgroups:
> 
> alt.binaries.e-book
> alt.binaries.e-books
> alt.binaries.e-book.technical
> 
> Most are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.
> 
> Note that these are not all legal ebooks, many have been scanned from the
> publishers pages. There are debates going on that conclude that using ebooks
> is like using royalty free MP3s, the person who wrote the book is not
> rewarded for there efforts.

If they're going on, they can't very well have concluded anything, can they? :)

Another place to find free e-books in many formats is 
http://www.baen.com/library/ .

They also have a service they call "WebScriptions" where you can buy the 
right to download ebooks for a very reasonable price, provided you are an
avid sci-fi reader (they only publish sci-fi and fantasy, and their system
requires you to download 3-5 books *of their choosing* to get the very best
price.)

-- 
#macro R(L P)sphere{L F}cylinder{L P F}#end#macro P(V)merge{R(z+a z)R(-z a-z)R(a
-z-z-z a+z)torus{1F clipped_by{plane{a 0}}}translate V}#end#macro Z(a F T)merge{
P(z+a)P(z-a)R(-z-z-x a)pigment{rgbt 1}hollow interior{media{emission T}}finish{
reflection.1}}#end Z(-x-x.2y)Z(-x-x.4x)camera{location z*-10rotate x*90}

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"Ron Parker" <ron### [at] povrayorg> wrote in message
news:slr### [at] fwicom...
> On Tue, 5 Feb 2002 19:52:17 -0800, Mitchell Waite wrote::
>
> > Note that these are not all legal ebooks, many have been scanned from
the
> > publishers pages. There are debates going on that conclude that using
ebooks
> > is like using royalty free MP3s, the person who wrote the book is not
> > rewarded for there efforts.
>
> If they're going on, they can't very well have concluded anything, can
they? :)

    I think it can be safely concluded that an author is not
being -directly- rewarded for his efforts.

> Another place to find free e-books in many formats is
> http://www.baen.com/library/ .

    Evolution in action (IMO). Baen leads where only the strong and flexible
may follow. Soon the rest will either follow out of desperation or die.

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> Another place to find free e-books in many formats is 
> http://www.baen.com/library/ .


Yes, a good and (slowly) growing collection. I own ten of those 
currently published - most of them I already had but I've bought four 
books (three of those published plus a sequel), that I may not otherwise 
have bought, because I read them there and liked them. And thinking 
about buying a half dozen more. So I guess (in my case at least) the 
library's having the desired effect :-)

Mike Andrews.

<whimper>
... but! ... but! ... but aren't we going to read about Miles' 
wedding?!? WAAAAAAAA!!!!
</whimper>

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"Michael Andrews" <M.C### [at] readingacuk> wrote :
>
> So I guess (in my case at least) the
> library's having the desired effect :-)

    Having had to give away hundreds of books in my life to make room for
more, I have finally learned to only keep books that I will definitely read
more than once. The books I keep in my house have to be books I will want to
read every couple of years or so. I make exceptions when several books by an
author are re-readable, I will then make sure I have every thing published
by him just to make it a collection.

    So in the last 20 years my book buying has slowed down, but I buy more
hardbacks and spend more money. If a publisher wants to get my money, they
will have to produce a high quality book by a good author. I almost bought a
book at Christmas but it turns out the publisher sent it out with poorly cut
pages. I would rather wait for the paperback and hope for a re-publication
later.

    So if a publisher has 20 or 30 books a year they want to offer, either
they will have to wait until I get my turn at them in the library or they
should publish an e-book. Once I read it for free, either way, I will make
my decision to buy. I am probably only going to buy one or two of those
books, but without an e-book it may be years before I do and I will buy it
at a discount instead of the full price. I may miss it altogether. Their
loss, as there is always another publisher's book to read.

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