The Redbook In The Information Age

I agree with celtic.

My take is that its a good thing to have if you like seeing some history or really just seeing all the different coins you may or may not have known about and figuring out what you like. As far as prices go for it I dont even bother to check their prices. By the time they come out theyre obsolete. I use completed ebay listings and numismedia for pricing, now if I cant find the coin in question there then I would check the RedBook price just to get an idea.

I don't have or need one of your Redbooks (do they have illustrations?)but a few years ago I did splash out on the Krause catalogs. I mostly use the disc downloads that came with them but I do occassionaly leaf through the hard copies just for sheer pleasure.

I use mine all the time :)

I collect the Hard Cover versions of the Red Book and have all of them from the first to present. I keep a ringed version handy all the time simce I don't even open the ones in my Hard Cover collection. For those that spend so much of their lives in front of a computer monitor, I guess looking things up on the internet is just what they do. When not playing games that is. I'd much rather take the time to look up what I want, when I want, in a book and not have to even turn on a computer. True at many coin shows I see people whip out a cell phone to check a price of a coin. I've also heard dealers tell them to buy the coins on the internet since the price they see is not what they'll get here. Usually they end up putting the cell phone away realizing their not impressing anyone. I've even seen people at flea markets pull out a cell phone to check a price of an object and usually hear the seller tell them them the same thing. Go buy it on the internet.
True it's becoming a computer age more and more but still not for everything, yet.

I keep one near me at work. I use it when I know I can find something in it faster that I can type in a search query.

Mine is in the bathroom, I read it everyday

I am constantly amazed at what I don't know about coins. I don't use it often to look up a specific coin, but more to store knowledge about coins I knew nothing about.

The RedBook has lots of great information about coins, but if you want a price reference, carry the latest physical copy of the CDN Greysheet.

You could check CDN on your phone, but having the print copy in hand prevents any dealer assumptions that you're comparing prices on the Internet...

I am in the minority. I like the RedBook, but like all the others,don't pay attention to the prices.

Yes there are lots of sites with some of the information. But you have to keep going from one bookmark to another. And what happens when you are on the road and need some information and all of a sudden you have no cell coverage; or your battery dies; ect.

It reminds me of an incident I had in my Guard Unit. We lost Satcoms and when I got there the link was down and the crew was trying to figure out how to trouble shoot the system. I asked where the manuals were. "Bookmarked" was the reply.

Well duhhhh. No internet, no bookmarks, no manuals.

Paper is the ultimate fall back. And it is all in one place and easier and faster to navigate than most web sites. Thats without the bandwidth issues.