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Synthesis lectures
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2008 02:17:34 -0700
________________________________________ From: Rod Van Meter [rdv () sfc wide ad jp] Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 10:30 PM To: David Farber Subject: Synthesis lectures Dave, Interesting discussion; the last few messages have generated more light than heat, which is good :-). Now might be the time to point out the relatively new series called "Synthesis Lectures", 50-100 page books on fairly specific topics, primarily of interest to specialists, available for download or print purchase. The goal, as I understand it, is to reduce the threshold to creating something more in-depth than a review paper, but without the overhead (in author's time, as well as other metrics) for getting out something useful. It might serve as a model for reducing the dependence on the "epic tome" phenomenon referred to by others. Mark Hill is the editor for the computer architecture series. http://www.morganclaypool.com/toc/cac/1/1 Prices to buy individual lectures are noticeable ($30), but I think their preferred model is to get institutional subscriptions. Just another point in the design space. --Rod P.S. For many topics, including architecture, there are common principles but practice is changing quickly, so I lean toward newer editions. However, there are classics that have stood the test of time in our field, and even *their* prices are an issue. For example, when I was a master's student (more than fifteen years ago), IIRC, Kleinrock's _Queueing Theory, V.1: Theory_ went for about forty bucks, and I thought that was too much to pay. Now list price is $138! Same book, no new typesetting, no new edition. Shipping, stocking, distribution and even printing costs may have gone up, but most of that extra hundred bucks goes to the publisher and the author. Now, I'm not opposed to the occasional CS equivalent of Stephen King -- if a few people get rich because they produced either something great or something they could get a lot of people to buy, more power to them. But that one's ridiculous. Hennessy & Patterson, on the other hand, recently put out the 4th edition, and it's fantastic, with a bunch of material moved to CD and a cheaper paperback binding, trying to keep weight and cost down, with some success. ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Synthesis lectures David Farber (Jul 09)