Ok, personally I prefer books, I can touch them, carry them with me, smell them and see the scars on them that show that they are well loved. I also love knowledge and collect every scrap of it that I can on the subjects that interest me. The internet is amazing! As for tutorials, well, firstly I'm tight fisted so don't spend money easily, and tend not to buy them as they don't represent good value for me personally. I've just received Mary Moths 20c Bleeding Heart tutorial though, and I have to say that simply for the gesture she made with this, I would have happily paid $20 just because she has shown how sweet and kind she is.
Now, I say I'm tight fisted (I am, ask anyone who knows me) but the lack of value isn't my main problem with tutorials. I understand that people have to make a living, and I applaud enterprising ways of doing so. What I don't like, is the change its brought about in the lampworking community. Once of a day, people would share techniques readily, and for free via tutorials on websites or in threads on the forums - even sometimes free PDF's or Word documents. Now, many of those free tutorials have disappeared from the web, deleted from forums, and been re-packaged as `e-books' - I know this is true as I have several examples on my PC. Yes, the new e-tuts probably have better pics and clearer instructions, maybe even a new twisty recipe, but they are basically the same thing. It just makes me sad that what was once a very sharing community has become so strongly motivated by cold hard cash, and techniques are no longer shared amongst online friends - they are sold to customers...
Maybe I'm just an old hippy at heart, but still it makes me sad.
I have to acknowledge that there are some lovely people who simply give their techniques and advice freely. There is the fibula tut, spinning top, and the dolls eyes techniques (among others) that are all recent and appreciated offerings, but a little bit of something special has left the community I feel....
Just personal opinion, not aimed at anyone - no offence meant, so please don't take it
