| Re: Market Research 101 [message #75054 is a reply to message #74963] |
Fri, 11 February 2011 01:46  |
Paul.Bowyer@gmail.com
Messages: 7
Registered: September 2007
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Junior Member |
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On Feb 10, 8:33 pm, Teddy Allen <teddy.ie...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Feb 9, 4:44 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
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>> Folks,
>
>> OK, today's topic: "What you want, verses what you
>> can get". Or, perhaps, "What you want, verses what
>> you can afford."
>
>> I wrote this book of mine with only one idea
>> in mind: I wanted a book that was both informative
>> and beautiful. It turns out that informative you
>> can get for a dime a dozen. Beautiful, well, that
>> costs a bit more. Quite a bit more, as it turns out. :-)
>
>> So, here is the question I should have started with,
>> according to my MBA son. How much would you be willing
>> to pay for a book about graphics programming in IDL?
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>> Let's start with a couple of assumptions. Let's assume
>> it is a pretty good book and that it contains information
>> that may be of some interest to you. Would you pay $25,
>> $45, $85, $135? Where do you start drawing the line?
>> What causes you to draw the line? Do the aesthetics of
>> the book have anything to do with it? Do you care whether
>> it is in back or white or color? Cloth cover or paperback?
>> Sexy picture of the author on the back cover?
>
>> At your price point, whatever it is, would you expect
>> a full-color book, or would you expect black and white
>> illustrations? (Keep in mind this is a book about
>> scientific visualization techniques.) If you expected
>> color, how much of a premium (above what you would pay
>> for a black and white book) would you be willing to pay?
>> What would you think is "reasonable"?
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>> Would it matter to you if the book was in black and white,
>> but you could gain access to a color PDF of the book for
>> some nominal charge if you bought the book?
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>> Or, are you one of those modern kinds of readers who
>> disdain physical books, and only consider buying a book
>> if you can load on your Kindle or IPad?
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>> Obviously, I have to make some choices here in the next
>> week or so. And, obviously, I don't expect everyone will
>> be willing to cough up $150 for a book, even if it is
>> personally autographed by the author. But I would like to
>> get a sense of what people might expect to pay for a technical
>> book and what they would expect to get for their money.
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>> Thanks!
>
>> Cheers,
>
>> David
>
>> --
>> David Fanning, Ph.D.
>> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
>> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.idlcoyote.com/
>> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
>
> David,
> First of all, thank you for your continued efforts to help the pace of
> my programming evolve from the speed of uphill flowing chilled
> molasses to snail like. Yes, there is a huge difference! I represent
> the IDL user who spends days on plotting (and career choice re-
> evaluation) to achieve seconds for real analysis...yes, the graduate
> student.
> In the past three years I have bought three IDL books. At that time
> price was not a concern due to my modis operandi: I need all the help
> I can get approach. At this point with the evolution of IDL 8.0, I
> will only consider buying another IDL book only if it is written in
> 8.0 (or 8.0.1, etc...). I think the advantage you may have in selling
> this book is that there do not appear to be any IDL 8.0 books currenly
> on the market. If you make it, I will buy it, thus insuring a rapid
> evolution from snail to gazelle.
> Generally, I detest electronic books. I do not like to be forced to
> use a battery or a plug to do something that normally does not need
> it. Can you imagine being on a long flight, say from Narita to
> Jakarta, and have to stop reading because the power is used up on an e-
> reader, thus forcing you to browse again and again at the sky mall
> catalog hoping that you can catch something different with each
> turning page. For me paper books are the only way to go. However, the
> ONLY exception is for reference books. As a student, I tend to travel
> extensively with bulky texts and reference books. Not only does that
> kill my back, but it can add extra weight to the sensitive weight
> limits from all airlines. Once I was over the limit and was forced to
> walk throughout the airport with my IDL manuals and GFD text shouting
> nerd alert with each step. A kick me sign on my back would have been
> more welcomed.
> Now, getting back to your topic...I would be delighted with a PDF
> version. I use my IDL reference books while using IDL. Since I do not
> use IDL without power, I do not need a paper book. A PDF IDL book
> would allow me to leave my other books at home, but more importantly
> will always be accessible whenever I use IDL. Also, you can easily
> imagine the benefits of a PDF book while competing for space on the
> small in flight tray tables. There is no room for both a book and
> laptop. But, voila, there is infinite space for the PDF! While I am
> not a publishing guru, I can guess that a PDF book with unlimited
> color plots would be much less expensive to produce and hopefully less
> expensive to buy than a paper book. Color plots in an IDL reference
> book are indispensable and should not be compromised. I hope there
> will be a PDF version available. This request is not an effort to
> spend less, but instead to reduce bulk and exploit color plots to
> maximize the learning process.
> Hope this info helps......Good Luck!
> teddy
> p.s. there is sooooo much more room on a PDF for sexy pics of the
> author. (and limitless photoshop opportunities as well!)
Hi David,
I would be more inclined to buy a pdf version, and I'd probably pay
$50 for the pleasure.
For a printed version, and issue of colour, either have colour
versions on your web site as someone else suggested, or provide a CD
with them all - or will that cause costs to rocket too?
All the very best,
Paul
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