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Subject:Re Value of paper docs? From:Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 21 Oct 1996 11:35:43 +0600
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."
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Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
AnswerSoft, Inc.
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