I haven't gotten around to getting the CD's as of yet but started to so I would have the reference material and support the online services provided at one time but something happened that precluded it. But I still plan on getting a set in the near future. I hate sitting down and reading a book on the PC. There is nothing more annoying than trying to read one of those Adobe PDF manuals. But I think it is much better to have a reference library on
CD's or DVD's than to try to keep up with 20 shelf's of handbooks that get dusty, dirty, worn, and just plain deteriorate over time, if you only intend to reference information. But if you really like a certain calculator such as the voyager series 11c, 15c, 16c or even 12c enough to purchase it, why wouldn't you want the actual handbook? Yes they are expensive. So is my personal copy of anything I want or need. I purchase published text books for information and reference as well as for a school curriculum. They now average anywhere from $65 to $250 each. Even when a new edition comes out the prices don't drop on the old editions like they use to because they have a certain class life of usage (text for schools for example). And if the information is such that it never really changes, such as how current flows, or how an RC circuit behaves then they hold their value now much more than the past because of the initial cost especially if the new editions only include new information or chapters for a new technology. But if all of you want these free, then I want all of them free as well. Why should they charge me for a book I really want for free? I can say the same as the rest of you that use this mentality. Since it is electronic and there is no paper or printing cost why should it be free. How long do you think people will work at learning, and learn at working, and work at writing to just give it away free? When does the information stop having value to the original authors? Never. They deserve a percentage of any revenue from their works forever. It is their intellectual property.
I wouldn't want a printed copy of every handbook for every HP calculator. Who would? Would you want to keep up with them and be concerned with the condition of them over the years if you don't actually use them? If you average the cost of upkeep and if forbid you ever have to move and pack and unpack one time, you can never sell them and recoup your moving cost at today's rates. Try it for a year and see if you change your minds.
I am not against free manuals and information within reason. But why do so many people expect it, demand it, or even believe it is their right? Why? It is never truly free? NO! Someone somewhere has to fit the bill for any information in any format. So when you think you want so many things on the internet for free, either a company is charging you much more for products or the federal or state government in the U.S. is taxing you for it. Do you really want so many things put on the internet because people want it for free? Do you know how much has been placed out there at tax payers expense that will never be used? Do you also know that the majority of internet information that is FREE is already obsolete? Most of it hasn't been updated for as long as 3 to 5 years. But it is sitting there and someone is paying for it to be on a computer system mostly because they don't know if it is valid or not.
What is the point? Much of this information was placed there at the expense of taxpayers and without any planning or subsequent plans to maintain it. It is there in the way every time I look for real information. I actually get so tired of looking at outdated material or pages that you read with links and the linked data or system is gone and has been for years. How RUDE.
How about other countries. How much are you paying in the equivalence of taxes they charge you where you are for things that you will never use but you were told it is for your own good just like we were. We weren't given a choice, but we were told we would do this in this country, and in the schools no matter what we think it is for the best. The grades are down. The kids are lazier than ever. They aren't learning anything. They just look up the answers with a search and never know how or where it came from. Some of it is also wrong because anything can be posted and sound good but be totally wrong. The other point. How do you know those manuals are the true originals? Only with some type of controls and accountability that doesn't exist on the internet and never will.
I run into things when looking for information all the time that is nothing but in the way. The next point. It causes extreme overhead on every system everywhere. One of the points obsolete (in some of your tiny minds) mainframe programmers warned people of. It wouldn't be managed. It is difficult enough to get users in any company to keep their own files cleaned up. Do you really think the planet will? I don't think so. I honestly have to go through so much garbage and obsolete junk when looking for something important that I just get so tired of reading and just logoff. Don't get me wrong. There are many old sites by internet time frame reference, that have good stable information. I especially find many sites with electronics information that is quiet nice in England, Germany, and even Italy, France, and some other countries that have translated it to English. I appreciate the effort of some of these people. But I don't go back and expect it of them.
When I first started using the internet I use to keep the urls in files that identified the type of information. Still have some around. I didn't want to waste my disk space on the files. Went back a few months latter because I remembered that one had a great explanation of some electronic component. It was gone!!!! How RUDE.
But expecting a vendors material to be free is somewhat ridiculous. You may think I didn't get your point. I did. It would be nice to be able to download any of the handbooks and put them directly on your computer. But would you really want to start doing that. Wouldn't you want the real source to be a CD or DVD. You better. The websites can go away tomorrow if everything is free and no one pays the bills. You can then send people to it and they no longer will be able to get the handbooks. Then are you going to serve everyone that you sent to the defunct websites, or that may find out you have them and ask for a free copy? It will only take you a few hours of your computers time each day to download 4 or 5 handbooks so they can have a free copy.
WILL YOU DO THAT FOR EVERYONE ELSE?
IF NOT
THEN DON'T EXPECT IT OF ANYONE ELSE!
doug