Books Should Update as Software

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46483136

by fullstackragab • 7 months ago

6 10 7 months ago

news.ycombinator.com

Most books — especially technical ones — are treated as finished artifacts.

But the reality is: Knowledge changes Tools evolve Errors are discovered Better explanations emerge

In software, we accept continuous improvement as normal. In publishing, we still freeze books at “v1.0”.

I’m experimenting with this idea through a platform called Ulomira: authors publish once, and keep improving their book while it stays live.

I’m curious how others here think about this:

Should books be immutable? Or should they evolve like software?

Genuinely interested in feedback from authors and readers.

pfdietz• 7 months ago

When I read an e-book and notice a factual error, I'm unhappy I can't tell the author or publisher about it and expect the e-book to be updated.

gryfft• 7 months ago

New editions of books are released all the time. The immutable record a particular edition of a book is a bedrock-importance feature, not a bug.

I don't want a new platform for books that might change under my feet. That's antitical to the benefits of ownership. I'll take a plain text file over your walled lotus garden any day.

vunderba• 7 months ago

The immutable record a particular edition of a book is a bedrock-importance feature.

This. Auto-updating books is a terrible idea, especially if I don’t have the ability to see the before/after diff.

There’s actually already precedent for this. Back in 2023, Puffin made changes to many of Roald Dahl’s books to remove some of the more offensive imagery, including in Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and released revised editions. That in itself isn’t necessarily unusual... what made it controversial was that the updates were automatically pushed out to readers who already owned the original versions, changing their copies without their knowledge or permission.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roald_Dahl_revision_controvers...

bloak• 7 months ago

This reference to Enid Blyton in that article seems somewhat misleading: "A month later, it was announced Enid Blyton's works would be expurgated as well."

It's my understanding that the books released under the Enid Blyton trademark have been continuously revised ever since they were first published, which was long before 2023.

Take a look at any recent Enid Blyton book: there's lots of references to the trademark but no claim that the text was written by a natural person with that name. Some of the books may have been ghostwritten and the Wikipedia article on "Enid Blyton" says: "updated versions of her books have continued to be popular since her death in 1968".

So there's nothing new about updating books. I suppose the problem was that some people wanted Roald Dahl to be treated like a proper author rather than a brand. Enid Blyton has been a brand for decades.

brudgers• 7 months ago

How would the author get paid for updating the book in a way that is better than the current edition based system?

baubino• 7 months ago

Continuous updates could be disastrous for how-to books or any kind of technical learning manual. It says one thing today, but something different when I look at it tomorrow? How is one supposed to follow the directions if they’re changing?

Fixed editions are nice because you get the big update all at once; it’s planned for and expected.

xiaohanyu• 7 months ago

One of the main reasons why books cannot update as software is because there is no GitHub or even Git thing for books crafting.

elbci2• 7 months ago

"1984"? what do you mean it was about power changing truth on the go?! It was always about floral arrangements and cookies recopies ;))

chenyusu• 7 months ago

Agree. That will completely eliminate the possibility of the Renaissance.

elbci2• 7 months ago

Well in all honesty Renaissance was like arabic research attributed to ancient greeks and served as "humanist revolution" to hide the real revolution: usury meaning being redefined by papal decree to get it off the sins list ;)

Books Should Update as Software

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