Information book and Internet

I saw this book when I walked around in Popular and I laughed. Investopedia? This has been the site I frequented most for last two months. So I flipped through the book and saw contents that I used to see online, with a obvious difference: one is priced, the other is free. Of course I cannot fault investopedia for its smart move by publishing book to capture larger market, but standing from a view point of a smart consumer, this book is just not for me. Why pay for something that I can obtain somewhere else for free? Somemore reading online is more flexible and easier to search.

This highlights another difference, albeit a more subtle one: passive reading vs active reading. By buying a book, you read whatever that are included inside, limited by space and cost. By reading online, you expose yourself to a sea of knowledge, limitless and borderless. You are free to flip to any page, free to flow to any site, free to find any information that is relevant. You can find different references to understand a concept, you can find different angles when analyzing an issue. It's all up to you. The reading experience is actually (because you may have not realized it) and definitely more fun and stimulating.

But what has been lacking in internet is the creditibility of the contents. So you need time to find trustable sites with trustable contents. Whereas for books, once published out, their contents would be circulated among public and cannot be withdrew back (domain can disappear overnight). So they have to be credible (to a certain extent). And hence book has its strength to offer knowledge since the first important criteria is credibility.

However, this kind of informational book (like encyclopedia of what, what and what, 1000 whatever things that you must have, and etc) would die out in the coming decades, because providing information is no longer book's strength. Internet with vast storage, great searchability and amazing linkaility can do a much better job with ease.

P/S: As a smart customer, I notice that NLB has a great collection of books that include even some of the recent books, and hence whenever I want to buy a book, I first check online catalogue of NLB using i-phone. And most of the time, I feel glad that I have done so, because I avoid unnecessary spending. If everyone do like me, maybe the publisher will bankrupt; but I am sure that not everyone would do like me, just as not everyone reads.

So why bother? Just choose my way. :)