Cool Tools
Old book; new cheap digital version
For $3.50 you can get a full-color, indexed, hot-linked version of the Cool Tools book.
This 140-page collection of cool tools very much resembles the old Whole Earth Catalog in style and substance. If you liked those old Catalogs, you’ll find this one just as invigorating and chirpy. It’s compiled from evaluations taken from this site.
But with a copyright date of 2003, some reviewed items are now stale, outdated or obsolete. However, many more — probably most — remain the best things to use and won’t be easily superceded. I still use the book myself. If you want a black & white version you can order one from Amazon (below).
But I have a better offer: a digital download. Halfway between a book and a website, PDF digital books are pioneering a third way. With this Cool Tools PDF you get several things the printed version does not have (but the web does): an index, clickable active hyperlinks in the text, and glorious full-color. At the same time the PDF version retains the easy to browse design and rapid navigation of a book, which the web does not have. And it is a lot cheaper than a book, immediate in its delivery, and smaller to store. I find myself reading a lot of PDFs and growing comfortable in their habits.
The form is still experimental; I’d love to hear your feedback.
02/21/05Excerpt
Cool Tools, 2003 $17
