The only real way to learn is by doing, and I think that's essentially independent of formatting

That is very true. I've been surprised time and time again at how much progress students make by solving exercises. Right now, this is the main thing missing in the book, and I'm going to be working in the coming months to create a nice set of exercises, possibly using the khan-exercises framework which you can use through the web. The main purpose of the book is to give students the initial tools they will need to then dig into the exercises.

What is it in other texts that you find to be "bullshit"?

I guess the main thing I'm calling bullshit on is the "page inflation" phenomenon. Old calc. textbooks were 100-200 pages long and did a really good job at introducing the three-four new ideas (limits, derivatives, integrals, series). How come new textbooks are 1000+ pages long? The longer the textbook, the smaller the probability that students will actually read it.... so more is actually less.

"Who gives a shit?" ... question is framed in a vacuum.

The relation to the real world is another big motivating factor for learning. This is why I begin each section with a "what is this used for" paragraph and an example. It makes sense to explain the applications before going into the formulas and the theory, otherwise why should-I listen to you?