Why should a book engineer when there is internet

The huge amount of information that is now placed in blogs, on video and in other formats on the Internet, makes you wonder if there is a place in the modern world for books. Of all possible formats, the book is one of the most time consuming. At the same time, the authors note that writing books is far from the most profitable occupation. Especially narrow professional literature, for example, on network technologies. But the books keep coming out. It seems that there is something that encourages authors to turn to the conservative book format despite all the difficulties associated with it.

This post is about why books are important in an engineering environment and why they still need to be written - and read too. She was born from the net work blog entry , and there will be many arguments from her, but also other thoughts on this topic. For the uncomplicated opinion of the author, look at the original article.
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Why do people in IT write books? It doesn't seem like money. Author interest fees are usually symbolic, and payments depend on the number of copies sold. Only best-selling authors like “... for dummies” can afford to live on the income from their own books. Maybe the authors seek fame? Now, blogging or publishing a podcast, you can gather an audience more at the cost of less effort.

The deep theoretical aspects of network technologies can not be called a popular topic. Books on them are not sold as well as books of the CCIE level, and they, in turn, do not diverge as books of the initial level. In this case, it is the fundamental themes that require the most time and work. This concerns not only books. The organizers of the sessions on Cisco Live have learned a long time ago: the more theoretical the performance promises to be, the smaller room you need to prepare for it. And it does not matter at all what the report is about or who is speaking - most people, in principle, are not interested in theory. As a rule, they just want to know how to set up what they need. They want to know what they need to do right now, not wondering why or how it works.

The fact that people avoid books and go to fragmentary sources of information is characteristic of any area of ​​specific knowledge. With the development of the Internet, every task now puts a choice - figure it out yourself or search for a ready-made solution. In this case, a person does not always have the time and resources for the first option. This is not familiar to anyone: “This is super-interesting, but it takes time to figure it out, but they demand that it all work right now. Well, I will do it quickly, and then I will thoroughly understand ... ". And this “later” for different reasons can leave for an uncertain future.

Perhaps the fact is that literature for beginners is in principle more valuable than books of a more serious level? After all, most engineers work with networks of small and medium size. For them to work enough knowledge to set up quite basic things. But if we stick to this argument, it turns out that we, as engineers, have decided that it is enough for us to know exactly as much as is necessary to solve current problems. That we don’t need to read anything, because blogs, where they will tell us which piece of hardware to buy and how to adjust everything to solve the problem, are all we need for professional growth.

If so, then we are not only belittling our culture as engineers - we are belittling ourselves as individuals. It will be sad once to discover that we have stopped reading, having decided that we have enough blogs, videos and advertising sheets. What we can say with certainty: "Yes, we are satisfied that we will forever remain professional newcomers."

I do not want to bump into an argument:
- I am busy!
- You just do not want to develop!

How many people, so many unique situations. An engineer who is constantly engaged in implementing various solutions, rather than servicing them, is important and needs a theory, because the tasks are diverse, and you simply cannot find a ready-made solution to each specific problem - you need to understand the principles. But not every company has a need and, more importantly, the ability to apply such knowledge, since tasks, as a rule, are very specific, without amateur actions. This is especially true of institutions with high requirements for business continuity, where the price of a mistake is high and there is a direct ban on any deviations from instructions. At the same time, professionally growing up and going to a bigger company is not an option. At first, everything is new and unusual there, but in the end it also comes down to a set of routine tasks. And the person is left with a big head and theoretical baggage, which is nowhere to update. And knowledge that is not used does not live long.

And it may also turn out that a person simply does not need it. It is not necessary, and that's it: he never wanted to be an engineer, became them at the whim of fate and is waiting for an opportunity to retrain as an artist / microbiologist / pilot of civil aviation. There is nothing you can do.

But if you consider network technologies as your vocation, do not become a professional newcomer. Books will never be as popular as customization blogs. But the new configuration, which you will learn, will be useful for a year, but understanding why something works this way and not otherwise will not lose relevance much longer, and at the same time will become a link for new knowledge. Give a man a fish ... Blogs about setting up will help save time, but it is important to understand that what you can find in them is only the tip of the knowledge iceberg on which the blog is built.

But back to what makes the authors go beyond the cozy framework of a blog or channel with video. Let's say it's not about money or fame. What if the author is writing a book to help other engineers? Ivan Pepelnyak, a well-known network technology blogger, believes that the time invested in writing a book could be spent more usefully by blogging and speaking at conferences. It takes an average of several hours to post for a blog, it may take several days to prepare a speech, and work on a book takes months. But after all, we would long ago have refused books if these efforts had not been justified. If modern “lightweight” formats really could offer the same level of understanding of the subject for which the books were originally designed. In fact, how can you explain in a speech format, for example, how traffic routing in general works with all its nuances, ranging from filling in the internal tables and ending with the subtleties of a particular dynamic routing protocol? After all, in an article or blog, we usually read only about a small aspect, not always seeing the whole picture.

Yes, blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, and other similar sources have become firmly established in our life, and they cannot get anywhere. But do not rush to write off books. Mainly because they have nothing to replace. No format allows you to structure and present a large amount of information as quickly and efficiently as a book. Using a space of 80,000–150,000 words with graphs, sidebars and digressions, one can explain what cannot be conveyed to the video (while the visual character of the video makes it possible to convey what is difficult to say in the book). Moreover, books are even more interactive than blogs and videos. They provide a unique opportunity to look into the thought process of another person. Observe the disclosure of concepts and get a comprehensive view of them.

It is difficult to come up with a more self-oriented activity than mastering literature. Your boss does not need this - most likely, it will be enough for him if you make everything work by pulling the configuration. This is not even particularly important for the author of the book. The peak of his interest, as a rule, comes at the moment when he sees his name on the cover. The book is a great way to self-realization, but not a stable source of income. Especially the book circulation in <1000 copies. You always read books only for yourself.

Blogging, creating videos, and so on - great things to do. But if you want to learn something, read a book or two, five or ten about it. And if you really want to explain something - perhaps you should think about writing a book.