Microsoft Press lays off all of its editorial staff

Topic

New Reply

Distressing news from Tony Redmond at IT Unity: It’s always sad when people lose their jobs, but it is much sadder when a highly profitable company ca
[See the full post at: Microsoft Press lays off all of its editorial staff]

Reply | Quote

Replies

Sad and interesting trend.

Software goes from PC to cloud > We lose control over our software and data.

Software books disappear > We lose control over what we know about the software and how to use it (the assumption being : there’s no decent online help to speak of, which is another trend).

Software changes all the time > It’s impossible to keep track > A flow of new “features” of possibly doubtful interest trump coherence of design and mastery of the program by the user.

Big picture = disempowerment.

I hope I’m missing something.

Reply | Quote

I think you hit the nail on the head – but it may be an inevitable consequence of the acceleration of progress.

Reply | Quote

Sorry to say, Woody, but I think you are too kind. This is the inevitable consequence of the acceleration of greed.
Microsoft–and for that matter, Google and Apple–have long abandoned any pretense of customer service. This is just another nail in the coffin. If they could all eliminate customers entirely and just keep accessing our bank accounts, they would.
Here’s a suggestion for your next book: “Abacus for Dummies.”
Where is Ned Ludd when we really need him?
Morty

Reply | Quote

Looking at this from another prospective, Woody’s books are so good that MS just could not compete!

At least I think so.

= Ax Kramer

Reply | Quote

Sorry, but from my point of view I don’t see very much “progress” these days. It looks more like the opposite.

Even astrophysicist Carl Sagan when speaking astronomically used Billions, not Trillions.

Reply | Quote

Here’s one for dear ol’ Ned….

Reply | Quote

+1

Reply | Quote

I’m the proud owner of a Woody Leonhard & Ed Bott book called “Special Edition Using Office 2003”. It’s a splendid piece of work in what used to be a splendid collection. As a matter of fact, I bought all Office 2003 books in that series.

I’m sorry to say that this did not generate any revenues for you, Woody, since I bought them 1 $ apiece (more or less) while they were on sale, long after Office 2003 was a current product.

It’s a problem people can’t benefit any more from the joy brought by such high-quality work, and it’s a problem the talent and dedication of people who produce such work can’t be rewarded any more.

I guess this illustrates the theory of Daniel Cohen, a French economist who asserts (I hope I’m not distorting his theory) that present-day technology is different from industrial revolution technology, in that it brings little economic growth and mostly destroys middle-class employment, while not replacing it with new jobs.

The challenge in the coming years, he says, will be not to get rid of technology, but to make it generate wealth and jobs again, as opposed to just cutting the cost of existing activities (and getting rid of talented and useful people in the process).

Reply | Quote

Why is the web site showing my posts (for about two weeks now) as by “Anonymous?”

Reply | Quote

Probably because you aren’t typing in a user name, or an email address.

Reply | Quote

Heck, I ain’t dead yet.

Seriously, the second edition of “Windows 10 All-In-One For Dummies” is going full steam ahead. We already have a translation deal for French. Pre-orders are strong, and of course I’ll be flogging it wildly here and elsewhere.

I’ve been trying to dream up some kind of promo for the new book. I once thought about signing autographed copies — until I ran the numbers. Just the shipping (from publisher to me, and then me to the reader) makes it infeasible to come anywhere close to competitive….

Reply | Quote

Thanks. Never had to do it before, after the first time. Somehow those boxes got cleared.

Reply | Quote

Yeah, I think the transition to an SSL site wiped out a lot of stuff.

Reply | Quote

Right On Morty;

Ned’s waiting tables.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/ned-ludd-portland

JF

Reply | Quote

It’s an acceleration sure enough… but not progress… More like the path to Authoritarianism!

I think people would rather hear a pleasant lie than an unpleasant truth… Focus on Cool features and forget about civil liberties…
Take the Red Pill for heaven’s sake!

Reply | Quote

Ohhh… It generates wealth for the few people that control it… Just Not You… and not me…

Ronald Reagan’s economic policy was refereed to as “Trickle Down” economics… The idea being tax breaks and incentives at the top would allow them to grow business and the wealth would than trickle down to the rest of the population… Trickle would be an improvement! Which is why 48% of the wealth in America is controlled by the top 2% of the richest.

There’s only one thing that trickles down… and it’s not $$$

Reply | Quote

Consider this… When the balk of the world is out of a job… Who can afford to buy the product?

Reply | Quote

Sounds great about your new book! Good luck with it.

Maybe you could create a purchasing link on your AskWoody site to Amazon and other internet retailers, if that would give you a % of the profits.

Maybe in your local city (or other cities when travelling), you could do a meet-the-author/brief-informative-talk type of event at a large bookstore and autograph books from their B&M stock (so, no shipping costs or hassle involved from your side).

Maybe, if it’s not too complicated, you could also take pre-orders for a signed copy via a large-ish local (to you) bookstore, then have your publisher send the requisite number of books to that store in one shipment, go there one day when you are free and sign those books, and organize for that bookstore to handle the payment processing and shipping — you could inform people on this site and your Facebook/Twitter feeds that a signed copy will be available via that method. In exchange for the increased sales, maybe that bookstore would cut a deal to make it worthwhile for everyone to do.

Maybe for all folks who buy a book through your site here, you could create a companion pdf file or an e-book with something extra that they would only get by ordering here. That would incur no shipping costs, of course.

…I don’t know, just thinking aloud.

Reply | Quote

Keep those thoughts coming!

I used to advertise my books here, with an “affiliate” link (something like 5%) to Amazon. I used to get an order every month or two.

Reply | Quote

Autopen at the Publishing House?

JF

Reply | Quote

Joe Friday–
Great! Thanks for the tip. I’d love to go, but it’s not kosher.
Morty

Reply | Quote