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  • (January 12, 2023, 01:18:11 AM)

Author Topic: Google Books  (Read 2108 times)

BizB

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Google Books
« on: January 25, 2007, 10:07:11 AM »
Okay, I just found out that books.google.com is out there in beta form.  I may be behind the times.  I had heard that they were in the process of scanning all books into this database; however, I had no idea that the were already putting them online.

I just did a search for "Actionscript" because Flash programming is my latest fling.  It returned 567 books in multiple languages.  The second on the list, "Actionscript Cookbook" retails for $50.  All pages of the book except 870-873 are included in the free preview of the book.

There is something to be said for having a book that you can hold in your hand; however, for reference things like above, this is great.  There's almost no point in joining O'Reilly's Safari if these books are available through google.  And, unlike a book, you can actually search this!
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milifist

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2007, 11:59:20 AM »
I just went through and previewed Actionscript Cookbook.

These are the pages not available in the preview:
7-36
41-54
59-67
72-95
98-136
139-159
162-206
209-241
244-274
277-297
300-361
364-395
398-436
439-464
467-491
494-508
511-520
523-565
568-578
581-602
605-613
616-652
655-671
674-691
694-733
736-761
764-803
806-834
837-840
870-873

It has enough missing to make it useless as a reference, but it is far superior then the standard previews at Amazon, BN, etc. This new google thing is going to make it much easier to decide which reference books to buy.
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BizB

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2007, 02:08:03 PM »
Ahhh... I guess I didn't look at it that closely.

Still, you're spot on.  Deciding if a book is for 'tards or geeks will be much easier.

Do any of you subscribe to Safari?
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milifist

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2007, 03:12:30 PM »
Not me. My bittorrent subscription was cheaper.  :w:

Seriously though, the safari pricing structure doesn’t suit my needs very well. A per-book-pricing model would be so much better for me. Say $2 to have online access to a book for a month. I just don’t read through that many tech books. It is more cost effective to just pickup a used copy of what I’m interested in rather than spending $20 every month to have access to a bunch of books I’m not going to be reading. I tend to be very particular about which books I buy.

Of course, I’m not under any pressure to stay on the cutting edge…
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pbsaurus

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2007, 03:34:43 PM »
Nice!  Now I can spend even more time at google!
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Demosthenes

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2007, 06:59:22 PM »
DAMMIT.  milifist change that avatar!

It just... makes me.... want.......... to.... BAN.
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Agent_Tachyon

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Re: Google Books
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2007, 09:20:39 PM »
Up until the last little while I used to sit at Chapters for a few hours on the weekends ever so often and read the references without having to buy and nobody cared.
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Re: Google Books
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2007, 10:51:35 PM »
Quote from: Demosthenes on January 25, 2007, 06:59:22 PM
DAMMIT.  milifist change that avatar!

It just... makes me.... want.......... to.... BAN.
It does me, too, and I've never even HAD a ban button there. Or here. Heh.
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