Re: Re Value of paper docs?

[Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM>]

Ted Heatherington writes:

>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.

How big is your sample set?  The hypothesis is easy enough to test
indirectly.  For example, it's very difficult to purchase a computer
that doesn't have DOS and Windows bundled with they system.  This
has been true for about five years -- far longer than the average age
of a computer that is still in daily use.  Thus, the vast majority
of computers should have perfectly legal copies of Windows and DOS,
and therefore have no reason to pirate them.

If the aftermarket exists mostly to serve pirates, there should,
therefore, be a great dearth of books about DOS and Windows.  For
example, "DOS for Dummies" and "Windows for Dummies" should not exist.

Yet my impression is that there are vast numbers of such books, many
of which have been through multiple editions and innumerable printings.
So I believe that your conclusion is incorrect.

        -- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
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