Maybe not for you. They are for me. This is impossible to answer generally.
> Is it more true for [older/some fields]?
I don't believe there will be such a simple heuristic. I've read many books that were not worth it, many I did not finish, and the common aspects were:
1. The topic did not interest me / My motives to read were not the right ones
2. The author was not very good / The content was low quality
You can prevent(1), but you'll have to at least give it a glance to identify (2) where you can just drop it.
> Isn't most of the information from books freely available online?
Including books? Free online books? What's the point here?
> Am I missing out?
Maybe not. If you don't get enjoyment from books, move on. There are plenty of rich and informative entertainment nowadays.
Maybe not for you. They are for me. This is impossible to answer generally.
> Is it more true for [older/some fields]?
I don't believe there will be such a simple heuristic. I've read many books that were not worth it, many I did not finish, and the common aspects were:
1. The topic did not interest me / My motives to read were not the right ones
2. The author was not very good / The content was low quality
You can prevent(1), but you'll have to at least give it a glance to identify (2) where you can just drop it.
> Isn't most of the information from books freely available online?
Including books? Free online books? What's the point here?
> Am I missing out?
Maybe not. If you don't get enjoyment from books, move on. There are plenty of rich and informative entertainment nowadays.