Obviously it depends on you. But I think having a book published gives you:
1) Warm glowy feeling + bragging rights.
2) A lot more "longevity" than just a blog.
3) It makes the world a slightly better place (and makes some people really happy).
I say 3) because I love reading, love collecting (good) books, and having more good books to read is always better. I read a ton of blogs and read HN every day, but books are still the best media for serious works, and I'm sure my book collection will be my pride and joy many years in the future, long after I've forgotten half the blogs I read now.
All of that is really just my way of saying, please spend the time. I'd love to have your book in my library!
A. I'm not sure I believe this. I have bought three or four books which were compiled from blogs. They all felt really dated within a couple of years. I read each of them zero to one time and then sold them off; after all, the material is there online if I need to refer to it again. And sometimes the online version even gets refreshed.
B. Books only have more "longevity" than blogs if you are a librarian, or at least an amateur librarian. You must keep them around on your shelf for a long time, dust them off, carry them from place to place. It pains me to say this, as a former book collector and the son of two book collectors, but in the networked era print book archiving is like collecting and preserving fine art: A vital activity for a handful of professionals, but a niche hobby for everyone else. Especially for content that was born in digital form.
C. Books don't collect links. Except possibly to (e.g.) Amazon, which helps Amazon's SEO but contributes nothing to your own. It might be the height of irony for Patrick to publish a dead-trees book which advises you to publish everything on your own web site where it can attract inbound links.
1) Warm glowy feeling + bragging rights.
2) A lot more "longevity" than just a blog.
3) It makes the world a slightly better place (and makes some people really happy).
I say 3) because I love reading, love collecting (good) books, and having more good books to read is always better. I read a ton of blogs and read HN every day, but books are still the best media for serious works, and I'm sure my book collection will be my pride and joy many years in the future, long after I've forgotten half the blogs I read now.
All of that is really just my way of saying, please spend the time. I'd love to have your book in my library!