Many years ago in the heydey of computer book publishing some smart guy at Sams Publishing one day got the idea to take a computer book that had a CD in the back of it (like, say, a programming language tutorial that included a compiler and example files on the CD), put that book and its CD into a big, bulky retail software box, and then sell it as if it were a software product.

Dubbed “book in a box,” this idea was so wildly successful it eventually grew into a whole new business line for Macmillan — a line that eventually was closed down after getting quite a bit too far astray from the original, successful idea of building software products that were natural extensions of our book lineup, and that built on our core stength in teaching people to use computer technologies.

But I’ve always thought that the original idea of packaging our book content along with the software that you need to learn the topic at hand, and selling it as something that isn’t necessarily a big printed book, was truly an excellent one — one that there’s just as big a demand for now as there was in the ’90s.

The problem was, we just didn’t have a good vehicle or channel for this kind of product any more — bookstores didn’t want to carry software boxes on their book shelves, and places that sold software had pretty much gotten out of the business of selling computer books.

So, meet the 2006 version of “book in a box” — the Linux Starter Kit:

Designed to look a bit like a software product, but to be shelved alongside books in a package that a reader can easily open up and browse in a bookstore, the $39.99 kit includes:

1. SUSE Linux 10.1 on a DVD inside a jewel case
2. A 150-page printed “Quick Start Guide” with basic installation instructions
3. An 800-page SUSE Linux reference book (SUSE Linux 10 Unleashed in this case) in PDF format on the DVD along with SUSE

So far, initial sell-through of the Kit has been very promising. And the first couple of reviews have generally lauded the idea and the package. Though there have been a couple quibbles over whether or not SUSE 10.1 is really the best distribution for a target audience that seemingly includes users like your “Uncle Fred and Aunt Suzy” — which to me means more that we need to tweak the packaging to make sure it’s clear that it’s *not* intended for the novice user who barely knows what an operating system is, but the computer enthusiast or self-taught learner who wants to try out the world of Linux without a lot of investment in cost, time, or risk. In other words, the classic Sams reader.

Expect to see more like this.

• Peter H. Salus/Groklaw
• Jon Watson’s Tales from the Motherboard
• John Berger/Bityard
• Nathan Willis/NewsForge

Technorati Tags: Book in a Box, Linux, Starter Kit, Sams Publishing, SUSE, SUSE 10.1

Sometime soon our first short (50-100 pages) PDF product — Pearson’s brand name for this type of product is “Short Cuts” — is expected to be available for sale.

We decided to capitalize on the recent release of SUSE Linux 10.1 and come out with a concise electronic guide — called SUSE Linux 10.1 Kick Start — to what’s new in SUSE 10.1, how to get it installled and configured, how to set it up as a complete desktop operating system, and how to troubleshoot common problems.

Jem Matzan (who produces The Jem Report) wrote the PDF/guide/shortcut (don’t yet know how to refer to these things exactly), and I think he did a great job of writing something that adds value above and beyond the excellent SUSE documentation and that’s something SUSE users are going to willingly pay $7 or $8 for.

Plus we’re doing a lot of interesting things on the design and production end of things to make the PDF much easier to read on-screen than the typical ebook, and to take advantage of the medium to make the information inside more readily accessible through a variety of different avenues — to allow more random access for the reader.

It’ll be very interesting to see how it’s received.

Technorati Tags: e-books, Linux, Short Cuts, SUSE, SUSE 10.1