Recently, I was waiting at a stoplight listening to an author interview on NPR. They were talking with Joshua Foer, a journalist who, as part of a feature he was writing, decided to take on the challenge of the United States Memory Championship event and ended up winning. He’s written about his experience and the technique he used to improve his memory in his book, Moonwalking with Einstein.
Before the light could turn green, I had time to grab my iPhone, launch the Kindle app, and backorder the book with one-click ordering! Ironically enough, I immediately forgot the details of the contest, but the experience of being able to immediately purchase a book at a stoplight has stayed with me.
And, now, as SAS Press celebrates its 20th anniversary, we’re able to offer this same immediate access to SAS users. It’s amazing how much our program has changed over the past couple of decades. Over 250 authors have published over 160 books! Through those projects, we have transformed our completely paper-focused development and publication process to a completely digital process, saving months of development time. We’ve distributed the printing of hardcopy books so that the books reach readers as quickly as possible. We’ve expanded the options for readers to include ebooks as well as hardcopy books.
Although our customers are still primarily interested in hardcopy versions of our books, we’re seeing that sales of SAS Press ebooks are increasing dramatically. The format for ebooks is portable so that you can view the book on a variety of devices—dedicated ereaders, your PC, even your phone! So, you can now get the SAS Press books you want, when you want them, and in the form that you want them.
Twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have imagined that I would one day be purchasing a book over the phone while parked at a stoplight. That single event has made me even more excited to imagine how software and technology and reading will evolve over the next 20 years.
Here’s to SAS Press Authors and their books, paving the way for the next generations of SAS users!
p.s. In case you’re curious, you’ve just missed the US Memory Championship event for 2011. It was just held March 11. However, it’s never too early to start preparing for next year’s event!
To help SAS Press celebrate its 20th anniversary, we'd like to invite you to share your experiences using books from the press. Comment here or join us on Facebook.
