REVIEW

Safari Tech Books Online

O'Reilly & Associates

Dr. Bob's Vote

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What is it?

From the About Safari section of the on-line site, "In July 2001, O'Reilly & Associates and The Pearson Technology Group joined forces to create a joint venture, Safari Books Online. The premise was simple: Take the best IT books from the best authors and publishers. Put them into an online, searchable database. Offer it to IT professionals as a means of addressing their never-ending need to quickly pinpoint reliable code examples and technical information."

In short, O'Reilly has taken a shot at putting a significant number (over 400) of their books on-line, making them accessible to users with a need for on-demand information. In addition to technical books for IT and programming professionals, the folks at O'Reilly also cater to enterprise and individual users with the Safari Business Books Online (for managers and business professionals) as well as the Safari HelpDesk Online (for general knowledge workers who need quick answers to questions about desktop applications).

How does it work?

Accessing the Safari network requires an internet connection and a computer with moderate processing power and graphics capability. In addition, you'll need to create a Safari account, which will cost you either $14.99 or $19.99 per month. Here's how their subscription plan breaks down:

Safari Basic

Safari Basic is designed for the IT or programming professional who wants to use Safari primarily as a reference tool to quickly pinpoint answers online and to read books on screen.

With Safari Basic you can:

Search the entire library. Add books to My Bookshelf to read them from cover to cover.

Swap old books for new books as your needs change. The only rule is that a given book stay on My Bookshelf for at least 30 days. For additional details see the FAQ on the next page.

Pinpoint answers to time critical questions by searching across thousands of books simultaneously. Find exactly the chapter, section and example you need. Limit searches to return code-fragments only. Save time by cutting and pasting code examples directly.

Safari Max - includes the ability to download chapters

Get started with a 10-slot bookshelf for as little as $19.99 per month!

Safari Max is designed for the IT or programming professional who wants to search for quick answers to read on screen, but who also wants the added convenience of being able to download chapters for printing and offline viewing.

With Safari Max you can:

Search the entire library. Add books to My Bookshelf to read them from cover to cover.

Swap old books for new books as your needs change. The only rule is that a given book stay on My Bookshelf for at least 30 days. For additional details see the FAQ on the next page.

Download five chapters per month - included in your subscription price*. Plus download credits roll over from month to month for up to 90 days.

Purchase additional download tokens for only $10 per 5-pack (only $2 per chapter*)

Receive a 30% discount when you purchase O'Reilly print books through Safari and a 35% discount when you purchase print books from these publishers through Safari: Addison-Wesley, Adobe Press, Cisco Press, Hewlett Packard Press, New Riders, Prentice Hall, Peachpit Press, Sun Microsystems Press, Sams and Que.

How does Safari stack up?

Those of you who deal with me regularly know that I'm a good candidate for experimentation. I like to try a new "thing" and, after bashing it around for awhile, complain. Of course, as an engineer, I have my own design guidelines: Everything should be customizable so the end-user can actually ENJOY using the product rather than learning to conform to barriers others put in our path.

In the case of Safari, the premise is interesting - and promising. Of course, we all know that I'm a raving fan of O'Reilly. However, in this case, I'm not buying... In short, the model doesn't work for "us" in our environment.

If I ran the circus, I'd have taken a little different approach. Of course, I don't know the business taking place behind the scenes and there may be some very good reasons for things I see as 'design flaws.' First and foremost, I'd kill the 10 slot limit. As many of you know, I have a sizable printed library. Those I've influenced over the years to become more technically proficient have also developed larger libraries. Now, imagine that I just told you that your library is limited to 10 slots -- not necessarily 10 books, since things like sendmail, 3rd Ed consumes 2 slots. Okay, we'll let you add slots, but the price isn't exactly inexpensive...

Why do I need to keep a book on my bookshelf for 30 days? I realize that I'm a little weird and have read the sendmail book from cover to cover – but I also know that nobody else in this group has! I highly doubt that you need to have it consuming slots on your virtual bookshelf for more than an hour, as you try to fix a problem. (Frankly, I'd rather that you have the paper version on your shelf, with your notes inside!)

What else would I do, as the Constitutionally-elected Circus-master? I'd make it so you could take the books with you. Granted, we work in an environment where we need our reference materials IN HAND. I'm sure we're not the only ones with that need. I have no problem allocating $2,500/year to purchasing books and manuals, and I don't think I'd have a problem with a version of a book that would fit on my Treo 600. I'd be happy to pay full price, too!

Quit whining, already! What did you LIKE???

I like the ability to search for terminology that is contained within the text of books and locate each place where the relevant search text can be located. For example, if you search for PAM you'll find information in books ranging from LDAP to 200 other books. Pretty cool, since you can find the relevant context for your project.

I like the fact that if I were in a real bind, I could hop onto the system and grab a chunk of information in short order (like when B&N is closed!?) At 3 a.m., needing the right information, it would be well worth the $20 hit to hop on and grab a solution.

I like the fact that it's O'Reilly. Do you really think that we'd be as well served if this were some other publisher? I doubt it.

You'll note that I gave this a three star rating, which might seem out of character for my review of this project. Don't get me wrong: If you need a resource for IT manuals, always the latest version, and can use it at your desk, then Safari is right for you. There are still some limitations that need to be overcome, in my humble opinion, but these guys are on the cutting edge and need to be recognized for taking a shot at solving a problem when nobody else seems to really care. They earned an extra star just for trying...

Okay, so should I buy?

If you're just looking for a book to read, or need to frequently refer to a set of manuals (you know, that lovely list of "foundation manuals" I'm always suggesting?!) on a frequent basis, then Safari isn't likely "right" for you. If, on the other hand, you need to solve other people's problems across the board (like me) and need quick access to a plethora of reference materials, then Safari could be right for you. For $240/year, however, I think your money may be better spent investing in hard-copy books unless you can really justify the expense.

Next review, we're hoping to provide some insight into a new book I ran across, as well as some awesome GPS hardware I've been playing with. 'Till then, stay safe.

Prior to publication of any review, I provide a copy to the spokesperson for the company that produces the product I'm reviewing. In the case of O'Reilly, Marsee Hansen is my contact person, and the person who takes great care of us.

Marsee's notes:

Looks fine. We want an honest review. You have given us one. You might want to mention that we do include many of the Missing Manual series books and other Mac titles since your group is Mac related. And you could mention that new titles are added all the time. I also know of many folks who use Safari to search their own books they already own. I thought that was a handy trick. Lastly, you might want to offer the 14 day trial for people to try it themselves here is the URL that takes you to the UG landing page:

https://secure.safaribooksonline.com/promo.asp?code=ORAUG&portal=oreilly&CMP=BAC-TP2974244892.