Good online e-bookshelf recommendation

Question

Developers having access to books is a good thing.

Who provides good e-bookshelf services to technical books and why?

If it matters, I program in Java for gold. Arrr.

Answer 1

Safari from O'Reilly

Answer 2

O'Reilly provides fantastic service and great books with their Safari service.

Answer 3

OReilly's Safari probably has the largest number of titles that covers the widest number of Java related topics. I've owned many many many dead tree editions. However, either the content is outdated or deprecated. So I've donated or recycled my books.

Now I simply buy PDF versions of my books. They are more portable and I can read them on airplanes and other places where I'm not connected to the net. I'm also particular about the amount or DRM I'm willing to endure.

I need to be able to print whenever I want, I need to read where ever I am, and I need to be able to cut/paste in order to share a particular passage with a peer whenever I want.

PDFs can be converted to the Kindle too.

Answer 4

The previously mentioned Safari, and books24x7 are probably the 2 main contenders. Safari obviously has all of the O'Reilly books, and some other publishers. books24x7 has a more diverse set of publishers and topics. If all you are interested in is Java, the Safari is probably the one to go with.

Answer 5

I currently use safari, although I am agravated with certain aspects - for instance if you purchase tokens (used to buy chapters in PDF format) they expire.

Why? They are not like milk - they will not go bad if they keep them on my account. They don't give me my money back....they just stop the tokens from working. I emailed their customer service but never received a response.

They need to T-Mobile it and have roll over tokens...

The last ebook I downloaded was from apress - the problem with their stuff is it is password protected so therefore I cannot use it on a kindle.

However, apress does keep up with your past purchases and lets you download them anytime you want. I also think their book in progress is neat (Safari has their rough cut service - but onl at the $500.00 a year level)

Of course amazon is great for the kindle, but I dont think you were talking about just purchasing e-books - but it is workth keeping an eye on them, you never know what they may offer in the future.

Lastly: http://www.onlinecomputerbooks.com/ --Used some info from off that site before - could not quite make up my mind what it is however....

--Joe

Answer 6

I am quite fond of The Pragmatic Bookshelf, it is perhaps not a real online bookshelf, but they do provide storage and downloads for the e-books that you purchase from them, and they support PDF, ePub and mobi (Kindle) formats, all DRM-free, which was enough for me to decide where to go.

However, they sell the books, not a subscription as Safari so you do have to buy each book you want to read, which might not be what some people look for.

Answer 7

Manning also has a nice line of e-books.