One of my biggest gripes about technical books is that they almost always spend the first chapter, if not several chapters, extolling the virtues of the product or technology. If I'm spending $60 on a book, it's a pretty safe bet I'm already convinced enough to own it. I just want a book the dives right into the middle of the tech stuff and cuts out the ROI bullshit.
Save that for a book for MBA golfers to read over cocktails prior to the next project status meeting. You know, the ones where they show up uninterested, unconvinced and unconcious. That is, until someone says "ROI", "metrics", "synergy" or "bottom line". Be careful saying those words. You might cause a Martini spill.
So, if you're authoring (is that even a correct term?) a new technology-oriented book, that aims even at the fringe of the technical community, please, do us all a favor and skip the brochure fluff and just start into the main topic? We really don't care about the history of the technology, or how it got its name, or the 10 reasons why we should use it, or stories about how you fell in love with it. We want to learn how to use it. Period. Is that asking too much?
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