What’s Wrong with this E-book?
You know what I’d like: More printer-friendly blogs.
When I posted this in Twitter, two things happened:
1) I received the following tweet from columbiaredhot: I agree with printer friendly blogs, but even better would be mobile friendly pages period! When will webdevs get with the times!
2) Chris Brogan offered a free E-book on social media and social networks.
Okay, so number two could be coincidental, and of course I downloaded it, but to my disappointment: The E-book is nothing more than Brogan’s post from a few days earlier. Granted, he states so clearly when he writes,
I wrote about this the other day, and have since decided to make a free, downloadable eBook available for your consumption.
Yet I feel cheated.
When I see “E-book,” I want more than just last week’s post. As a subscriber to your blog, I read that puppy last week. What’s the benefit here, other than printer-friendly?
Are E-books just the answer to my original question? Although I’d appreciate a printer-friendly option at the top of posts, I hope that’s not the answer.
That’s a great question. I honestly don’t know what made me say eBook when it’s just a downloadable pdf. But your question is really important to me. You’re right that a nicely formatted blog post shouldn’t be an ebook. But what is the criteria? Is it post+more? Is it ONLY unique stuff?
What’s your thought?
I think (expanded) post + more is the general assumption. Now what makes up that “more” part is another question. Is it charts and graphs? Is it additional theories, old essays, a group of related tweets, a blog/commenting session from another network? I don’t know…
Thanks for your thoughts on this. I’ll have you in my designs for the next “whatever it is I’m doing”. : )