* Tom Rokicki <rokicki@gmail.com> [Sep 20. 2014 08:40]:
Oh, we're going backwards too; several recent technical books I have ordered (including one volume of the new Winning Ways) were apparently printed-on-demand. This absolutely destroyed the typefaces and ruined the illustrations. It was like trying to read a third-generation xerox. [...]
Here is my worst of the worst: Elwyn Berlekamp: Algebraic Coding Theory revised 1984 edition, Aegean Park Press. Looks like made with a _rotten_ xero copier. In many parts simply unreadable. Did cost me 102 Deutsche Mark back than. Berlekamp should _really_ put a copy online. I still buy books, but almost never without previewing large parts or all of it (thanks, Russian servers!). Springer-Verlag (and I guess many others) now even do hardbacks via print on demand. This means that one has to go through every page of a newly bought book to avoid finding empty or missing or misprinted pages later on. My latest purchase from Springer has some sort of "jitter" on many pages so that the resolution is certainly below 300 dpi (still perfectly readable, and price was reduced). Cambridge seems to be one of the last publishers who - actually do editing, - are not ruining quality by going for the cheapest printer available, and - do not ask for idiotic prices. Best regards, jj