Mason, David and Ed - Why not put your books online?

[buck_thunder]

This may seem like a stupid suggestion (and I am not internet security savvy), but why not charge a flat fee (say $100 or so) and make your publications available online. Ed - you are the super smart programming guru - isn't there a way to allow users to view the publictions but prevent them from downloading (this would prevent file sharing and stealing)? I'm just thinking from a business standpoint (finance degree kicking in) that this would be very lucrative side of the business. There is no overhead other than storing the data and making it viewable. No printing costs, no deals to make with distributors, etc. Each author would get a percentage of the money based on their percentage of input on the total volume of 2+2 publications.

Maybe i'm crazy, but I think it is a great idea and very viable. I for one would pay a lower "bundled lump sum" to view all the books online in a heartbeat. Again, I am no genius and certainly not internet savvy, but WHY NOT?

While i'm posting - Ed you are by far the best teacher on 2+2. I am not saying that David and Mason don't deserve props, but you guys talk and teach on a sophisticated level. Almost like you want me to know and realize how smart you are (and I know you guys are smart). I think David and Mason are great teachers, but Ed is the best puting into laymans terms. He takes it from geek level to the everyday level. I think all of you are GREAT and each has improved my game tremendously. Not knocking anyone - just my humble opinion.

[bitznbytz]

The computer/technical book publisher, O'Reilly & Associates does just this. You can subscribe and have access to (almost) their entire library of publications (plus books published by other companies) online.

[trdi]

That's a bad idea. The book would be on Emule in 15 minutes.