>>Hi,
>>
>>For several years now (maybe even longer :)) I completely cannot motivate myself to read technical books.
>>I read tons of non-technical: biographies, thrillers, romance novels, non-fiction, etc. etc. But I can't make myself read technical stuff.
>>I get emails of these "short" technical books from Syncfusion. They are free and succinct but I still don't even open them.
>>
>>Am I the only one who is that bad?
>
>No, the books are bad. What turns me off is the level at which they are written, mostly for the fully ignorant, where half a page goes to explain step by step how to save a file into a specific folder or where to click to run setup (times three for each version of Windows). Add to that the tendency to call old things new names and sell that as new technology or new paradigm, which they try to explain with fancy box graphs (with arrows always pointing in the wrong direction, from child to parent or from client to server). The 1000-page manuals where 90% of space is screenshots is something I stopped opening fifteen years ago.
>
>I found myself loving Linux in this regard. There's a complete lack of sales pitch, which is not just refreshing but an entirely new world. The stuff is at my level, most of the time, which is also welcome. And even that is not books, just technical articles. The non-commerciality also means that when googling for things you find the relevant info on page one, whereas for anything M$-related the ItFeaturesThis articles from a decade ago fill the first five pages.

I really don't know if the books are bad or I am bad. I recently tried to read a book from Syncfusion on Web API (this is the topic I really would like to learn). But instead of giving the 10-thousand feet overview and explain the end result of building a Web API, the author goes right into some very technical descriptions and terms. I was lost. And switched to a romance novel in Spanish (much more fun :).

I tried to read articles on Web API on line. But almost all of them start with something like "Web API is good because ....". And no example of how the Web API is being used; practical examples. And many circular definitions. And I don't like when they overuse the word "cool" :)

As far as Linux. I can't. I work with corporate clients and they all use (except on maybe one or two) Windows Servers and I have to stay with .NET.