How are they still around?
By Mike Skuse in Reader
Posted in Software, Technology, Internet on May 25, 2008 at 1:22 pm
To start off I’m going to apologise for not being around for a while – I’ve been busy leaving school, not in the naughty truant way but in the normal it was my last week of school way and me being the busy person I am was dealing with multiple things, yearbook, a playground project I’m working on (redesigning one of the local playgrounds) and sorting out my last ‘Silver Surfers’ lesson (teaching local OAP’s how to use computers) but that should mean that now I’m able to have a bit more time … oh wait – no, I still have exams, silly me
Onto the blog - Cryptic title, not so cryptic Blog – my question is, how are tutorial books and dvd’s still around when the internet is just full of free tutorials, videos and guides that do a perfectly good job (If not better) of showing people how to do stuff – including the tutorial section of IT Pro!
I’ve recently got into After Effects and Photoshop and I don’t think I’d ever dream of going out and buying a guide book like ‘Photoshop for dummies’ just because of the multiple sites dedicated to the purpose offering step by step tutorials often on more tasks than a book, they also have huge forums of suggestions and help for specific problems. Along with that there are some fantastic videos taking you through every step you need to do – in real time, rather than reading a little book and looking at small black and white pictures.
The website that got me into it was http://www.videocopilot.net - this guy is brilliant and has made loads of tutorials guiding you through the basics of After Effects through to the expert uses of the program as well as plug ins and he has even developed packages of extras that can be bought – which are a much better use of the money that you’d normally spend on tutorial books because they actually give you something in return, along with all that you can download the project files which are used in the tutorials (I know you can sometimes get them with books but come on – these are free!)
Basically – I think that the tutorial book is going to be a dying trend unless something changes and for some reason the internet is turned off or something.
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Loading ...Comment by ronny stalker - May 28, 2008 on 11:17 am
I buy tutorial books on how to write programming languages, use open source software etc. I guess this is because i don’t have the time to go foraging for information on the net. I want it all in one place. I want someone else to have done the foraging already. I am willing to pay for that service. Also, the net is not linear. I want to read about something from start to finish without distractions. I also want to read on loo.
On the other hand, software made by companies like Adobe/Macromedia/Steinberg etc have excellent tutorials and documentation bundled with it - so, yes, the only reason to buy a book on them is if you want to be able to read-up on it whilst away from the pc. e.g on holiday, on the loo, on the train etc.
thats my thoughts anyway.
Comment by Sharon Jackson - May 28, 2008 on 7:14 pm
Hi Mike - me finished now too (even exams). Well, I have a bibliography to write and then hand in my final, that’s it, never again essay tomorrow. Woo Hoo. I’ve been re-acquainting myself with my gaming machines today.
As for printed v web. I do find short turorials on the web very helpful but anything that requires a lot of reading I prefer to buy the book. I don’t know why, I suppose I could just print off the web page. I guess it’s just the feel of books and the pleasure I get from seeing a well-stocked bookshelf. ebooks are the one tech advance I don’t really get on with lol
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