Life In 19x19

SmartGo Books 1.1 (http://smartgo.com/books.htm) for the iPad and iPhone is now available with two additional books:

- "How Not to Play Go" by Yuan Zhou (Slate & Shell) - $3.99
- "Patterns of the Sanrensei" by Michael Redmond 9 dan - $14.99

The book by Michael Redmond was written specifically for SmartGo Books. It features six basic plans for the Sanrensei opening, and illustrates the strategy and tactics of these patterns in twenty of Michael Redmond's games. Whether you play the Sanrensei or need to defend against it, this is the book to read before your next tournament.

For now, this book is only available in the SmartGo Books app for the iPad and iPhone. You can check out a PDF sample of the book: http://smartgo.com/pdf/sanrensei.pdf.

I have really got to say, that sample of Michael Redmond's book is awesome!

The ABC's of Attack and Defense by Redmond is one of my favorite go books. He writes in a very clear and understandable manner.

There is a huge chance that I will be reading this new book on my couch tonight.

Any chance of Patterns of the Sanrensei being available in any format other than SmartGo? An english book specifically on Sanrensei is of huge interest to me, but investing in both SmartGo and the book for windows since I don't have an iPad or iPhone seems a bit excessive to me.

EDIT: Apparently SmartGo books are only readable on iPad/iPhone? That seems rather unfair

Monadology wrote:Any chance of Patterns of the Sanrensei being available in any format other than SmartGo?

Not yet. For now, regard this as your excuse to get an iPad. There is a chance that it will become available in other formats, but that's not for me to announce.

smartgo wrote:

Monadology wrote:Any chance of Patterns of the Sanrensei being available in any format other than SmartGo?

Not yet. For now, regard this as your excuse to get an iPad.

Wow, that must be a good book if it's worth $600.00 and my freedom of choice.

Redbeard wrote:Wow, that must be a good book if it's worth $600.00 and my freedom of choice.

I'm more worried down the road that there will be no support, and it will be a 'book' I can't read any more. I liked purchasing the Kiseido Digital stuff, but I can't really see getting into this stuff unless the format was known, and I have the files.

oren wrote:I'm more worried down the road that there will be no support, and it will be a 'book' I can't read any more. I liked purchasing the Kiseido Digital stuff, but I can't really see getting into this stuff unless the format was known, and I have the files.

That could be said about all digital formats, from CDs to MP3s and PDFs.

To be fair, Anders is trying to open the SGFKifu spec to developers. I'm sure that he is being frustrated by the copyright holders of the original works and the license limitations of his iPlatform of choice. I do applaud the effort of expanding SGF to ebook publishing, I just wish that the implementation could be open and available for all platforms from the outset. There is no good reason to limit ebook publishing to a single, closed platform whether that is a iDevice, a Kindle, or a specific proprietary application.

Redbeard wrote:

smartgo wrote:

Monadology wrote:Any chance of Patterns of the Sanrensei being available in any format other than SmartGo?

Not yet. For now, regard this as your excuse to get an iPad.

Wow, that must be a good book if it's worth $600.00 and my freedom of choice.

Come on. I'm very much an advocate of personal liberties (probably to such a degree that many individuals on this forum would consider it a fault). I also happen to strongly prefer printed books for many of the reasons identified here. But how is anyone's "freedom of choice" being limited in this instance? By offering something that was previously unavailable to anyone on any platform, a developer is not, ipso facto, violating anyone's freedom of choice.

Importantly, let's consider the developers' "freedom of choice." No one is obligated to develop anything in the first place, much less develop it to our liking. We are perfectly free to criticize the developers' choices (and I do it all the time) and, if something isn't reaosnably accessible to you, it will affect the developer's compensation. For the record, I am wary about electronic book formats and disdain technology and laws that limit the ability of users to use what they buy. But characterizing the current situation as some sort rights infringement is a bit extreme.

Also, as others have pointed out, this is at an early stage of development. Expecting spontaneous multi-platform availability from a small developer to a niche market is a bit unreasonable (and, of course, they may choose never to support a particular platform). I for one, would really like for this to be available on Linux, but I doubt a native app is forthcoming.

To be clear, I'm not saying we shouldn't criticize software/applications, but rather that it is more productive to do so without a sense of entitlement.


EDIT: As soon as I submitted this, I felt it came off a bit too harsh and critical--specifically of Redbeard. Sorry about that; while I certainly intended my post to be argumentative, I intended to convey a more academic/detached tone.

Redbeard wrote:That could be said about all digital formats, from CDs to MP3s and PDFs.

All of those are pretty easy to use on any device out there as long as the PDF is not encrypted. Even that has been fairly trivial to break.

If I could buy an SGF Kifu and move it from device to device, and the spec is open, I'm all for it. I'll pay $15 now for the Redmond book and write an Android version.

Redbeard wrote:I'm sure that he is being frustrated by the copyright holders of the original works and the license limitations of his iPlatform of choice. I do applaud the effort of expanding SGF to ebook publishing, I just wish that the implementation could be open and available for all platforms from the outset. There is no good reason to limit ebook publishing to a single, closed platform whether that is a iDevice, a Kindle, or a specific proprietary application.

There is a reason, and I think it's been mentioned (but if not, it's just my take): iOS is the platform where users are the most likely to pay for apps. It also has by far the lowest risk of piracy (jailbroken devices can't get IAPs, and that's what the books are). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for open, platform independent formats (and the format itself isn't closed), and availability on many systems, but I understand the concerns that publishers (software and books) may have and why they want to test waters with the platform that offers the most potential for realistic (not just theoretical) commercial success.

There are other benefits (from a commercial perspective) like standardized hardware, closed OS, etc. There is a reason why Linux isn't today's standard OS and why the vast majority of commercial software developers doesn't port to or develop for it. Android has the same advantages and disadvantages like Linux.

Mivo wrote:

Redbeard wrote:I'm sure that he is being frustrated by the copyright holders of the original works and the license limitations of his iPlatform of choice. I do applaud the effort of expanding SGF to ebook publishing, I just wish that the implementation could be open and available for all platforms from the outset. There is no good reason to limit ebook publishing to a single, closed platform whether that is a iDevice, a Kindle, or a specific proprietary application.

There is a reason, and I think it's been mentioned (but if not, it's just my take): iOS is the platform where users are the most likely to pay for apps. It also has by far the lowest risk of piracy (jailbroken devices can't get IAPs, and that's what the books are). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for open, platform independent formats (and the format itself isn't closed), and availability on many systems, but I understand the concerns that publishers (software and books) may have and why they want to test waters with the platform that offers the most potential for realistic (not just theoretical) commercial success.

There are other benefits (from a commercial perspective) like standardized hardware, closed OS, etc. There is a reason why Linux isn't today's standard OS and why the vast majority of commercial software developers doesn't port to or develop for it. Android has the same advantages and disadvantages like Linux.

Sorry I don't accept that. A whore is a whore no matter how much they make or how popular they are. If you look at the history of publishing from scribes in monasteries to Guttenburg through to PDFs and Kindles, open platforms succeed and closed platforms, although more profitable, fail and cause more harm than good. If the world is forced to buy an iPad or Kindle to access proprietary content we are heading for a corporate dark age of digital feudalism.

Redbeard wrote:

oren wrote:I'm sure that he is being frustrated by the copyright holders of the original works and the license limitations of his iPlatform of choice. I do applaud the effort of expanding SGF to ebook publishing, I just wish that the implementation could be open and available for all platforms from the outset. There is no good reason to limit ebook publishing to a single, closed platform whether that is a iDevice, a Kindle, or a specific proprietary application.

Copyright, licensing, proofreading, translations, updates... These are all applicable of any publishing adventure. Electronic publishing only streamlines certain things at the expense of complicating other aspects of publishing. The only truly universal medium is print but the list of complications remains constant.

Personally, I've got an iPad and I have no desire to see Anders extend—and possibly exhaust—his limited intellectual and capital resources attempting to accommodate more formats or OSes.

david boise ID

bogiesan wrote:Personally, I've got an iPad and I have no desire to see Anders extend—and possibly exhaust—his limited intellectual and capital resources attempting to accommodate more formats or OSes.

I think you have me misquoted above...

Also, I don't want Anders to extend himself either. I just want to buy the file.

Redbeard wrote:Sorry I don't accept that. A whore is a whore no matter how much they make or how popular they are. If you look at the history of publishing from scribes in monasteries to Guttenburg through to PDFs and Kindles, open platforms succeed and closed platforms, although more profitable, fail and cause more harm than good. If the world is forced to buy an iPad or Kindle to access proprietary content we are heading for a corporate dark age of digital feudalism.

1. You don't have to accept that people & businesses need to make a profit, but it's a fact. Insinuating that every for-profit venture is equivalent to prostitution is ridiculous.

2. No one is being forced to buy an iPad or a Kindle. Paper books will exist for the foreseeable future. You can still listen to some new music on vinyl too, if that's your bag.