This has been bugging me for some time and I have to vent about it. For some years now Microsoft has been putting tools on the covers of its technical books, which is fine and even makes sense. But, shouldn't they put NEW tools on them, or at least the coolest tools to be found? Instead Microsoft has used old, dirty, rusty, bizarre and/or antiquated tools! Just what message are they trying to convey?
 
Some examples
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/6715.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/5200.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/5621.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9692.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/10512.aspx

Looking at the upcoming titles, it does look like they have removed the rusty ones, but some of tools chosen are simply bizarre. A horseshoe for Sharepoint? Pliers for Communication? An old drill for driver programming? Are they saying that their software tools are merely old, or old AND obscure? Perhaps they are trying to convey that the information within is outdated?
 
Don't get me wrong.  I'm a huge fan of these books as the content is usually top notch.  It's just that the first questions that come to my mind when I see these covers is about the tool. 1) What the heck is it? And 2) What in the world would a person use that for? Neither of those are questions that are particularly favorable to an entire line of books dedicated to software tools.
 
My non-tech friends see them and ask: "Why do you have so many books about old tools?"