I picked up the Essential Silverlight 2.0 book while I was at the Web 2.0 Expo.  I’ve been meaning to share.  It’s the first time I’ve purchased an “Up To Date” book from O’Reilly.  I’m waiting form my first update to come in the mail.

To update your book you have the  option to print out the pages or view them online for free, but I like the idea of updating the book itself. 

To put in the new pages all you have to do is pop the little metal posts out from the plastic cover then add in the pages.

The idea behind O’Reilly’s “Up To Date” books

For publishers of printed technology books, it’s always been challenging to get a book written, edited, printed, and delivered while the content of the book is still relevant and needed by the audience. Some of our readers are happy to have the information they need delivered quickly in electronic form, but we hear from others that they still prefer the actual printed page. The Up-to-Date format is our answer to the need to deliver information on new technologies quickly, yet in printed form. And the beauty of it is that the book can take shape right along with the software, providing coverage of the CTPs, betas, and RTM releases as they become available.

Because the cover is plastic I have noticed a small issue in that the printing seems to flake off from the cover.  Hopefully they find a way to fix this in future version.  Of course I’d be super happy if they had a version that would work on my Sony Reader too.

Oh, and the book is very good too, but that’s another post!