Wall 278: Winona
I will never buy a book affiliated with Informit or Safari Books Online again. I am spoiled. I am rational.
When I buy a book these days, I want a free electronic version. I have come to expect it. Hell, even college textbooks come with this nice feature. They are free, have advanced topics, source code, and additional exercises or answers. I bought “Programming in Python 3″ (I know, 2.X is still alive and kicking), and was happy to see the info in the back about the online copy during my $44.99 purchase.
I went to their site. Gotta enter a code, no biggie. Proves I own it right?
Wrong. Gotta register for a free trial. Okay, gotta jump through one hoop so they get some info about me. No biggie. I’ll be up and running in no time.
Oops. It’s only a 45 day free trial. Wait, what? What happens after that?
I have to pay an additional 22-44 dollars for content after that period expires.
There is no way this is winning me over.
Now, I know the Internet is probably a better resource in the first place, but I like the convenience of a direct reference. Especially in unfamiliar territory. Code snippets in this book end in…
were you expecting something? I was too. But not many are complete. Go online to see the full source!
Lesson learned I guess. Consider yourself warned. Invest in a cup of coffee at that bookstore and get familiar with that book you are about to buy….
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