Re: Anyone knows this IIgs book?

[rhohler <rick.hohler@gmail.com>]

On Apr 3, 7:46 am, Toinet <antoine.vig...@laposte.net> wrote:
> I found this Apple IIgs book on amazon.fr: Apple IIgs by alphascript
> publishing (ISBN 978-613-0-21488-3) and bought it for EUR 34 (I let
> Sean translate in USD, it is more)
>
> http://www.brutal-deluxe.fr/public/alphascriptpublishing_appleiigs.jpeg
>
> Published in 2009 by alphascript publishing. Written by Frederic P.
> Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, John McBrewster (Ed.)
>
> It is about the IIgs, the II line, the Mac line, about Apple and
> gathers a lot of articles from wipikedia.
>
> antoine

Seems to be related to this newly posted slashdot.org article.

http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/04/03/2112203/Print-On-Demand-Publisher-VDM-Infects-Amazon

""In recent months a flood of so-called books have been appearing in
Amazon's catalog. VDM Publishing's imprints Alphascript and Betascript
Publishing have listed over 57,000 titles, adding at least 10,000 in
the previous month alone. These books are simply collections of linked
Wikipedia articles put into paperback form, at a cost of 40 cents a
page or more. These books seem to be computer-generated, which
explains the peculiar titles noted such as 'Vreni Schneider: Annemarie
Moser-Pröll, FIS Alpine Ski World Cup, Winter Olympic Games, Slalom
Skiing, Giant Slalom Skiing, Half Man Half Biscuit.' Such titles do
have the marketing effect of turning up in many different searches.
There is debate on Wikipedia about whether their 'VDM Publishing'
page  should contain the words 'fraud' or 'scam.' VDM Publishing's
practice of reselling Wikipedia articles appears to be legal, but is
ethically questionable. Amazon customers have begun to post 1-star
reviews and complain. Amazon's response to date has been, 'As a
retailer, our goal is to provide customers with the broadest selection
possible so they can find, discover, and buy any item they might be
seeking.' The words 'and pay us' were left out. Amazon carries, as a
Googled guess, 2 million different book titles, so VDM Publishing is
currently 1/35th of their catalog, and rapidly growing.""

Rick