How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me

Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by anuragramdasan on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @04:41PM (#6330324)

Yes you do make a great deal of sense. I guess my initial worry was that if the book would make any sense to me at all. It comes with a reputation of its own. I didn't seem like a good idea to spend 5000 bucks on a book that I might end up staring at for a few weeks and then give up. Now I understand everything in the book, but do not trust its content. Regret that.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by rtkwe on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @05:00PM (#6330457)

If you look at the price it's in rupees, so 5000 rupees is just 74 USD. The author bought a $5 version of TAOCP. The lack of quality isn't surprising.

(Unless Rs. isn't Rupee, but Google thinks it is)

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by bluepen44 on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @06:02PM (#6330823)

That is the author. In india they call rupees 'bucks' just like here in the states!

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by rtkwe on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @07:32PM (#6331225)

Ah that makes more sense now. Confusing cross cultural slang. It was shocking to see how little the expensive version the author passed up was.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by eitally on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @09:53PM (#6331740)

Especially considering how poor the knock-off Indian domestic reprints are. Everything is smudgy and looks like it was printed on newsprint (either standard or glossy -- it varies), without trimmed edges and with a horrifically bad binding.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by tripzilch on Friday September 06, 2013 @08:36AM (#6340084)

IMO, while it's nice to own a copy of a book that looks good and doesn't fall apart, the awful thing here is not the cosmetics but the fact that the copy is a mangled-up version with errors that have been fixed in editions over a decade ago.

You need to be able to trust a book. I received a misprint of a book I ordered online once, duplicate pages, missed half a chapter. I didn't need that particular chapter for the course I was taking then, and it was a week before the exam so I didn't send it back, it's a really cool book (Computational Geometry) that, like other interesting study books, I would pick up again and browse occasionally, if it weren't for this mess up. It's a shame, really.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by anuragramdasan on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @11:27PM (#6331993)

Yes. And since most books usually bought are Indian editions, we rarely realize how great the original editions can be.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by anuragramdasan on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @11:26PM (#6331989)

I am not sure if judging the value of currency for people is as easy as converting from Dollars to Rupee. I doubt if it is that simple.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by Roboprog on Thursday September 05, 2013 @02:34AM (#6332536)

When I was in India about a year ago, the exchange rate was about 50 Rs to 1 USD. So, I took to calling a 50 note a "Ghandi Buck" (sorry, guys, but it helped me remember the relative value, and it does have Ghandi's picture on it -- just like every other denomination).

That said, lunch in the company cafeteria was about 50 Rs, if I recall. So, where I would spend about 5 to 8 USD at home on a modest lunch, they would spend what amounted to 1 USD. Salaries are scaled accordingly, so yeah, those Rupees come dearly when you have to earn them locally.

100 Rs might exchange for 2 USD, but it feels like having to earn 10 USD (or more).

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by anuragramdasan on Thursday September 05, 2013 @02:40AM (#6332552)

Yes. While the mathematics is simple, the relative salary and inflation tell an entire different story.

Also over the past year, the value of dollar has increased to Rs 67(or the value of Rupee has fallen, whatever). The point is, it burns more now. And the burn amount keeps fluctuating.

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by denzil_correa on Friday September 06, 2013 @06:51AM (#6339676)

> "Ghandi Buck" (sorry, guys, but it helped me remember the relative value, and it does have Ghandi's picture on it -- just like every other denomination)

Apologies if I am pedagogical but it is "Gandhi" and not "Ghandi".

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Re:How The Art of Computer Programming was ruined for me by mtdewcmu on Wednesday September 04, 2013 @04:57PM (#6330440)

For me, it would cheapen the experience if I didn't trust what I was reading.

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