While I agree that most of the information you want can be found for free, on the internet, I like learning through books because they''re portable. I can take a book with me to bed, to visit relatives, on car rides... whatever, so I can use the time pretty good.

Being married with 2 kids I don''t have a lot of time, so being able to bring a book along with me to various places and read when I don''t have access to a computer, is quite nice.

Then I can use the time I have with my computer actually trying some of the examples if I want or applying what I have read to my own programs.

Books aren''t a total waste. They have their place.