New Question - online doc vs hard doc

["Schweizer, Alex" <alexs -at- VISTEON -dot- COM>]

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post about the Doc Department
Blueprint.  I am (believe it or not) still studying the responses, and
would like to send out a compilation of the information in a few days.
The responses have included writing department sizes from 1 to 40, with
very interesting information for everything in between.

New question though:  We've steered our company toward a philosophy of
delivering user documentation in an online format only, for a number of
reasons including the fact that the development schedule is so hectic
entire interfaces can change over the course of only several months
(don't say it, I know - we're attributing it to growing pains).  Online
doc (HLP) also sets the stage for delivering HTML-based documentation
(we're a Microsoft Back-Office Solutions provider).  I'd like to hear
other companies philosophies when it comes to delivering documentation?
I grew up on hard docs, then Help, and shudder to think of ever going
back to hard docs (we're not going back, I just shudder to think about
it).  I know there is the aspect of the security blanket, especially for
older, new computer users, but part of our philosophy is that we, as the
vendor, should not only lead the horse to the trough but make the horse
drink as well (or at least teach the horse how to drink, or that
drinking the water is in the horse's best interest, or that the horse
had better drink the water in the trough because we're not shipping
water in the same old blue buckets anymore).