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There seems to be no ebb to the tide of so-called Web 2.0 sites, nor the flow of buzzwords that surround all the hype. Even the bloggers who complain about it are getting tiresome. Now it seems even the old-fashioned printed book is going beta. Enter Rough Cuts, from the O'Reilly Network.

Now don't get the wrong idea, I'm no foe of Tim, nor do I have anything against O'Reilly books. In fact, I am a big fan. I have purchased many over the years and my shelves are full of titles. I also I think the idea of a beta book is pretty interesting. Reviewers often complain about the first draft of any developer book because of errors, omissions, even common spelling and grammar mistakes. This is especially true when the topic itself is evolving as the book is being written. Imagine authoring one of these and by the time it gets to print, the specification of what you're writing about has changed, rendering all your hard work obsolete before a single reader can run out to Barnes and Noble (or more likely Amazon) to get a copy?

In a nutshell, here's the idea: You get advanced access to the book, while it's being written. You can provide feedback to the author and editors to make it a better book, cover weak points in greater detail, help them correct mistakes and so forth. During the editing process, you can read it online, download it as a PDF, or print it. Depending on which options you choose, you can elect to only access the content online or also receive a copy of the finished, printed book.

Thus far, they have four (appropriate) titles:

Maybe you always wanted to contribute to the publication of a real, honest-to-goodness book. Well, here's your chance.