Marginal Gains

Why I appreciate books

I believe that technical and non-fiction books are the best way to get information, even in our age of fast internet speeds, full-HD videos and thousands of free articles on the web.

The team effort

It is important to understand the enormous effort that goes into the creation of one book. It is not just an author who creates a manuscript, that then goes through multiple rounds of editing. Usually, there is a big team working on a book that is published commercially. Here is just an example from a random book published by O’Reilly:

Such a big team ensures the consistency, structure and readability of a book. As you may guess, this is a very serious undertaking that requires more than a year to write and publish your average non-fiction book.

The cost

Also, investing in books is great value for money. For example, an average book about WW2 costs from 10−15 bucks. With an average length of 300–400 pages, that’s about 8–11 hours of reading. Yes, technical / educational books usually cost $30-60, but still this is a good price for enhancing your career. If you are serious about reading, there are a multitude of tricks to get books cheaper: promotions, subscriptions to learning platforms, buying used, renting from your local library, obtaining books through the employer, etc.

The content

Also, I really appreciate the structural integrity of a good book. Again, a typical O’Reilly book is not only organized in parts, chapters, and sections, but also contains the following elements that improve readability:

Besides that, books usually encompass a topic more fully compared to a random article or video: the subject is covered in more detail, and after reading a book one may consider himself to pretty well versed in the subject in question.

Another thing that makes books favorable, is that nowadays the internet is contaminated with SEO-optimized articles which main purpose is to sell, not to teach. Hence, the content is often superficial. Google any technical term, and you will end up on an article from some company blog. For instance, there is simply no such an article on software requirements, that covers the depth and amount of detail you can find in the Software requirements by Karl Wiegers.

There is a reason that in 2024 the best way to google some genuine information is to add “reddit” to the search term. This search engine is a mess.

The consumption process

As a rule, reading is way faster to extract information than watching videos. Reading is faster by definition, and you can also skim through the text when necessary. It is also more convenient to re-visit the information found in books, as you can just use table of contents or bookmarks to find the exact piece of information later. Another aspect is that books are more convenient to take notes — in a well-structured book, you can often copy and paste key information.

There is another interesting aspect of reading: it is easy on the eyes compared to a computer or handheld device like a phone or tablet. Reading a physical book or electronic reader with e-ink technology is relaxing to the eyes constantly tired from LCD screens.

Also, books do not ruin your sleep cycle due to the blue light of stimulating content. It is like a litmus test: if you try to read when you are tired, you will fall asleep quickly. If you are alert, you will have a great and productive reading session. This is a pretty good alternative to zombie doomscrolling at 1 PM, being semi-awake.