Tamar,

>In general, I use books and magazines differently than I use online forums. The Internet is for answers to what I need to know today, now. Reading books and magazines is to get a grasp on new technologies or things I'm not yet using and just to fill my head with the possible.

I remember reading through Rick's Web Applications book over a period of several weeks, usually during my lunch break while sitting in the food court of the mall where I worked or in a comfortable chair at the coffee shop, and even while riding the bus back and forth. The new concepts required a lot of thinking and I appreciated being able to relax while studying, underlining and highlighting the exciting new stuff. I can't imagine learning those concepts well while glued to a computer monitor.

>Now, part of the difference between your perception and mine may have to do with learning styles. I learn best by reading(not listening), and tend to remember visual cues to where I read something. That is, I can usually tell you whether it was in a book or a magazine, and where it was on the page.

That's the key to a lot of this discussion, I think. In changing times, a book publisher needs to figure out what percentage of the target audience is most comfortable with paper in their hands and what percentage is comfortable with emedia. That will depend on the subject matter and style of book, I believe. (Hacker's Guide lends itself to CHM or searchable eBook better than lengthy texts, I think... but what do I know?) :-)