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Subject:Re: Re Value of paper docs? From:Michael Andrew Uhl <uhl -at- VISLAB -dot- EPA -dot- GOV> Date:Mon, 21 Oct 1996 13:41:12 -0700
Jane Bergen is right on. I purchase a couple hundred dollars worth
of computer books a year for software I have licensed. I have
to do this because as Jane pointed out, vendors, especially
Microsoft, are providing less and less useful documentation.
Thank you Jane for setting the record straight.
-Mike
--
Michael Andrew Uhl, Lead Technical Writer (uhl -at- vislab -dot- epa -dot- gov)
Lockheed Martin, Primary Support Contractor to US EPA
Scientific Visualization Center
National Environmental Supercomputing Center (NESC)
U.S. EPA Environmental Research Center
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Jane Bergen wrote:
> On 21 Oct 96, Ted Heatherington wrote:
> > An interesting thought, with one provisio:
> >
> > How many of these "after-market" manuals are purchased by the
> > registered owner of software? Most manuals that I see being bought
> > at the book store are by people who "borrow" a copy of the software
> > from the office and need a manual for home.
> Where have you been lately???????? Not living in the Windows 95
> world, for sure.You are making a totally incorrect generalization
> here with your "Most manuals..." statement.
> Microsoft has basically stopped supplying manuals with its Windows
> 95 software. I bought software (Office 95, Windows 95) right off the
> shelf, my friend, and got little more than a brochure. Same for the
> entire Micrografx ABC Graphics Suite and many others. I have spent a
> small fortune on after-market books....as do many of the writers I
> know....not for pirated software, but because the online is either
> incomplete or difficult to use.
> Other software companies are now only too happy to follow Microsoft's
> example. It cuts down on their overhead, too. The after-market book
> industry is bigger and hotter than ever.....for REGISTERED users as
> much as "borrowers."
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
> janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
> AnswerSoft, Inc.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
