Bruce Eckel, publishing revolutionary

According to my recollection, Bruce Eckel put out the first digital book for free at the same time he had a best-selling hard copy at the book store. I believe the free version played a big role in Thinking in Java selling so well. At my dot-com, everyone who learning java started with his book, being free, and then eventually most of us bought it.

He made his book not only free on-line, but downloadable as both pdf and html. He didn't try to ramp up website stats by making you read the html on his site.

I actually thought that Bruce's successful example would herald a new day when free digital versions of book would become more common. Trying to break through a cluttered market can be difficult, and offering a free version might be the answer.

That day never came. So Bruce remains an anomalous experiment. I'm glad it paid off for him.

Bruce's latest idea (part of this interview) is equally brilliant.

I hope to make [the latest version of Thinking in Java] a community effort, to be published electronically under the creative commons.

Not that we need intro to java books so much these days -- but all the more reason to embed it into the landscape permanently. Give it to the software community, who knows what it will turn into. At the least, it could become the final, definitive book on learning java as a beginner.

A truly radical and fitting end to a book that started radically as well.