> Do you think you can get the ideas presented in, say, SICP or Principles of Mathematical Analysis by going through online material? The parent was making the

> Do you think you can get the ideas presented in, say, SICP or Principles of Mathematical Analysis by going through online material? The parent was making the point that it's possible to have a much better system where the book authors communicate with the readers online which improves both the quality and ease of understanding. As of now, it may not be the situation but in future there surely will be better ways to do things. Also if we go by the literal meaning, book is defined as "a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers". The part which requires "approval and published by a publisher" is a model of a book making and there may be better models out there.