Re: PDF v paper

[Matt Ion <soundy -at- SOUNDY -dot- ML -dot- ORG>]

On Wed, 16 Dec 1998 12:58:22 +0100, David Thompson wrote:

>Why is there a need for paper doc. to be shipped with a software product?
>For example: I write the doc. in Word, I convert it to PDF and put it on a
>CD. The final user can then view the doc. or print the doc. if need be.
>Production costs are reduced. No printing and lighter packages to ship.
>Am I over simplifying the situation?

No, but there are valid, simple answers as to why not.

Such as, I may find it particularly cheap of you to not be bothered to
give me hardcopy documentation.

I may not want to have to print off a hundred-page manual... in duplex...
collated... and have it bound and covered.  For a large manual, it would
cost me significantly to produce one copy... significantly more if I need,
say, a dozen copies for employees.  It's far from practical.  As an
economy of scale, you could have thousands or tens of thousands of copies
made to ship with the software for far less per-copy.

I may not even have the means to print off a manual.  If's it's a home or
SOHO product, most of your users these days likely have cheap inkjet
printers; a fair-sized manual would easily eat up a $40 ink cartridge.

Unless you have a REALLY GOOD reason why a softcopy is preferable to the
vast majority of your audience, I'd recommend still including the old
rainforest version, and if you're that worried about the price, just jack
up the sticker by a buck or so.



 Your friend and mine,
 Matt
 <All standard disclaimers apply>
 "Reality is in alpha test on protoype hardware."
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