Blog Books?

Why is it that popular blogs eventually have a book with blog content published?

I can't exactly think of many examples off the top of my head, but I do know that Stuff White People Like has a book. Now, Passive-Aggressive Notes is about to put out a book as well. I'm sure there are other examples out there.

I'm all for blog writers getting money and fame (if that's what they desire), but isn't turning a blog into a book a little, um, backward? Books are static. Even if they are updated, they aren't updated very often, and then only in new editions. New editions of a book mean re-publishing, using quite a bit more paper, and trying to create even more publicity for the sake of perhaps only a dozen pages of new information.

Blogs, on the other hand, can be constantly updated. The potential for new information and entries is endless. Books don't have that capability. When you hold a book in your hands, you're holding only a fraction of the possible content.

Also, books don't have the community that you get with a blog. Blog entries can have comments. People who make comments can come up with new ideas, or fresh perspectives on existing ideas. Blog entries can launch an in-depth discussion. Sometimes these discussions can be serious, and other times they can be quite hilarious.

I'm not knocking books. I love books, and book-reading is an important part of my life. I just think that blogs are their own thing. Trying to fit a blog into a book format limits the content to a physical product, with little ability to make changes and corrections or add thoughts later on.

That's just my two cents. I hope people who buy a blog-based book get on the computer and read the actual blog, too. If they don't, they're missing out on a lot of good stuff.