The best source of information about trading is google and of course youtube. You can learn about trading very nicely with all basic information from google and youtube. After that you can learn technical analysis from tradingview.
Well, when it comes to the basics, I simply agree with you on that, and there are so many things today that you can always get to learn online without having to make use of the books. What helps a lot in trading is to find a strategy that you feel you can trade pretty well, practice this strategy over time and make sure you are confident using it, and as time goes on you will keep building on it, and tending to make better decisions over time. Application of knowledge is something that can only happen when you actually seek the knowledge in the first place and I totally agree with you that once you have that great desire to want to do well in trading, you will most definitely be able to do well.