Saturday, June 23, 2007

Safari Books Online

I got a 30-day trial to Safari Books Online when I registered my copy of Adobe Acrobat 8.

Below is what it look like when I searched for AutoCAD as an example. There where only three quite old books specifically about AutoCAD. There are many more books on subjects like databases, IT, programming, etc.

  • 72 books matching the category "Visual Basic".
  • 81 books matching the category ".NET".
  • 67 books matching the category "SQL Server".
  • 26 books matching the category "Adobe".

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The search functionality and overall impression of the site is good so far.

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Between $219.99 for a 10-Slot Tech Collection and $439.99 for unlimited access of an annual individual subscription. Is it worth it? I'm not sure yet. I usually don't buy and read that many books.

Not so obvious is what 10-Slot Tech Collection really means. Notice that you need to keep a book on you bookshelf for 30 days. Slot values can range from one-half to three slots. Even if you only want to read one page of a book you need to add it to the bookshelf.

Anyone of you that are using Safari Books Online or something like it? What alternatives are there?

1 comment:

  1. Restored comment
    by Anonymous
    Take a look at www.books24x7.com. Similar concept but a lot more titles and you get access to the full library not just your selected bookshelf. Costs more though circa $500 per year I think.

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