I googled a question about Photoshop, and one of the first page results was found in a book available in O’Reilly’s Safari service. The safari service gives you access to O’Reilly books online. I needed to signup for a free ten day/50 page account to see the info I was looking for. To actually get the demo account, you have to go through a four page signup process, including giving them a credit card number so they can bill me when I forget to cancel my “free” demo. Plus, on page two I have to choose between a $39.99 Safari Library account or a $19.99 Safari Bookshelf account. I wonder if that fee is annually, monthly, one-time? There is no information or details about that at all. I think the O’Reilly webmaster needs to read through Getting Real, starting with Easy On, Easy Off. I knew I was going to bail at Step 2, but I continued on just to confirm that they were going to ask me for my credit card info.
It would have been much better to get me into my demo after the very first screen. Then when my limit was reached, for them to email me (once only! don’t spam me) suggesting I sign up for their services. The email could show which pages or books I looked at. Then give me the price of buying those books vs the cost of a Safari membership. I believe an easier demo signup would convert more browsers into buyers. At this point, I’ve given up on Safari, and it will be a hard sell to get me to try it again when it comes up in a search results page.