It was Ed Bott tweeting about his new book Microsoft Office 2010 Inside Out, which finally prompted me to proclaim:

“No more dead tree computer books!”

(Messrs Bott & Siechert have released a DRM-free eBook)

I have a collection of printed computer reference books, from “C by Dissection” to “Microsoft SCCM 2007 Administrators Companion”.  Taking up valuable storage space.

And here’s the thing.  I might have read them cover to cover, once maybe.  Now I use them as reference books.  My latest dive into a book was to refresh my memory on how to upgrade a Microsoft SMS 2003 server to SCCM 2007.  Something which can be more easily referenced via an electronic copy.  In PDF format, it will also be phrase-searchable.

And the other reason for me to go electronic?  It’s cheaper.  Take Microsoft Office 2010 Inside Out as the example.
$54.99 for the printed edition, $43.99 for the electronic version.  Total cost for the printed copy, landed in Australia?
$74.73.

Electronic books wins hands down for me.

I feel for O’Reilly Median and Messrs Bott & Siechert, as I suspect they’re going to lose some sales to piracy.

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