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Re: Fundamentals of Physics

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On 6/2/2015 8:16 PM, Joe Genteel wrote:
> Throw this trash into the fire.
>
> I can't believe that, after more than 20 years of http protocol, they
> are still advocating paper books.
>
> A hyper-text physics "virtual" book, containing vivid images, graphics,
> and multimedia content that no paper-bound book could ever muster, is
> the only way to present science -- and it would be free (no $$$) to boot.
>
> C'mon people.  Get your heads out of your asses.  Let get with the modern
> times.  Let's realize the true potential of the Internet.
>
> We have MathML.  We have HTML5.  Yet we still insist on paper-bound textbooks
> and their antiquated capabilities.

Writing a textbook takes between five and twenty years of an author's 
life. During this time, he is not remunerated for the effort, as far as 
I've been told by a friend who's been through this. An author makes this 
investment in time and enormous effort, as do reviewers, formatters, 
artists, purely on the risk that the book will be successful and the 
author will receive royalties from the sales of the book. I think you 
will find very few sensible people who will spend years of their life on 
something for nothing in return.

The only way anybody would create an online book for free is 
crowd-sourcing -- aka Wikipedia. And there, though it is a pretty 
powerful concept, the pedagogical value is horrible and the quality very 
mixed.

People who think that the internet is going to make all books free are 
still living in the early 1990s.

-- 
Odd Bodkin --- maker of fine toys, tools, tables

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Re: Fundamentals of Physics Joe Genteel <root@localhost.localdomain> - 2015-06-03 01:16 +0000
  Re: Fundamentals of Physics jimp@specsol.spam.sux.com - 2015-06-03 05:09 +0000
  Re: Fundamentals of Physics Sam Wormley <swormley1@gmail.com> - 2015-06-03 06:53 -0500
  Re: Fundamentals of Physics Odd Bodkin <bodkinodd@gmail.com> - 2015-06-03 19:51 -0500
    Re: Fundamentals of Physics Joe Genteel <root@localhost.localdomain> - 2015-06-04 02:22 +0000
      Re: Fundamentals of Physics Mahipal <mahipal7638@gmail.com> - 2015-06-07 19:46 -0700
  Re: Fundamentals of Physics Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2015-06-04 08:18 -0400

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