Idea to extend DreamSpark | DreamSpark Discussion

Hi all, I was recentlly having a conversation with a friend, the crux of which can be explained here:
Cullen D says:
Im getting tired of going to the book store every day, shelling out ~40, after 10 days, knowing all the info in a book, finding something else I want to learn, repeat process..

Mostly I buy MS press books. So my idea is, for MS to create something like an eBook reader requiring LiveID verification (to verify the LiveID is attatched to DreamSpark) then giving access to the full Microsoft Press Library.

Or, heavy discounts on MS press books, just paying for materials and S&H.

It would be nice if students were given these tech books for free/ discount, as we now have the software but not much else...

I have probably spen over $100 on Microsoft Press books this month, and now when I want to move on, I'm pretty much SOL because I can't keep shelling out this much $$ for books that aren't required for classes.

Thanks
Cullen Dudas

Cupiditas

I like it. Motion seconded.

Falcons12

One of the first things I realized when DreamSpark came out is that it's a great profit generator for MS Press. While this would be really nice, I doubt they'd give up the contents of all those books for free too.
I, myself, went out and got a Visual C# 2008 book from MS Press (only .NET 3.5 book for C# out at the time) and I've been slowly working my way through it between classes and such.

littleguru

In reply to Falcons12

#May 18th @ 8:49 AM

This is going to be very hard. MS Press books are most often written by individuals and not Microsoft itself. That means if Microsoft gives you the rights to read the book the company itself needs to buy the book for yourself from the dude who wrote it. It's different with software where Microsoft made the software (or its employees but they work for Microsoft)...

I hope you guys can see the clear difference here and why this is a hard problem!

Even we Microsoft Student Partners have to pay the full price for the books although we get the software for free...

philp

Why don't you take out a subscription to Safari Books Online (http://safari.oreilly.com)?

For Unlimited Access (read any book you like online, plus download 5 PDF chapters every month) it costs $43 per month; that's far less than you're spending now on a just a few "hard" copies.

At the moment there are over 5500 books to choose from (plus training videos). If you're solely looking at books from Microsoft Press there are over 300. Here are some of the latest Microsoft Press books available:

- Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Inside Out

- IIS 7.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant

- Inside MS Exchange Server 2007 Web Services

- MS Expression Web Step by Step

- Windows Vista: Home Networking

- Beyond Bullet Points

- Windows Vista: Home Entertainment

- Inside MS SQL Server 2005

- MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-623)

- MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-441)

- Practical Project Initiation

- 3D Programming for Windows

- Progamming MS Composite UI Application Block and Smart Client Software Factory

- MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-622)

- MS Office Publisher 2007 Step by Step

I've been a subscriber for a couple of years, and it's saved me $100s in buying books.

Hope that helps,

Phil

littleguru

In reply to philp

#May 18th @ 1:31 PM

Wow! Sounds awesome. I didn't know about that offer... Is it available outside the US?

gogole

This might cost more than the existing implementation of Dreamspark but it would help out alot if it got added to the programme.

Griffin

I think Phil has a good work around. I hate buying books myself but sometimes you need to.

littleguru

In reply to Griffin

#May 19th @ 6:06 AM

Also consider that people wrote them and invested quite some time... therefore: respect to them and buying a book once in a while isn't that bad, is it?