Nowadays, the selection is sorely limited - a search of Amazon or Barnes & Noble will yield an assortment of titles dampened by warnings of "limited availability" or "out of print". The few books still barely in print are typically dated, though you can still retrieve a couple of old, but relevant, gems from Commodore's Amiga ROM kernel series. But when was the last time you saw an Amiga magazine in your local newsagent, supermarket or computer store?
Magazines are still going, run by user groups or other enthusiastic individuals - the same people who have helped keep the Amiga fires burning in the post-Commodore years. It's a good testament that I can't keep track of the different magazines out there, both printed (such as Total Amiga) or electronic (AIO) to name drop just two. Though quality may vary, the passion is still present and it will be interesting to see how they adapt and blossom as AmigaOS 4 and AmigaAnywhere grow.
On the book front, there seems to be a dry spell. It's hardly surprising really - the cost of producing books is higher than for magazines, and major publishers will normally be looking for titles that will sell well. For the world of computing, if it's not got Windows, Macintosh or even UNIX/Linux on the cover you might as well forget it. That's not to say it's impossible: print on demand is beginning to become more and more popular and offers a cheaper route into the realm of book publishing, and electronic books (often distributed in PDF for wider support) can make the task ridiculously simple.
Hop on over to AmigaBooks (link at the bottom of this article) and you'll see someone has had the idea of producing Amiga titles electronically for free. It's a shame that the project appears to have gone quiet because the idea is a sound one. If you're involved, or know the organisers, e-mail me as there's no contact details on the site... maybe something can be done? › Recently, there was mention of reviving the ROM kernel manuals - the definitive official developer
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