On Wed, Dec 16, 2009 at 9:19 AM, Stefan Creaser <stefan.crea...@arm.com>wrote:
> Why would one (want to) download and print an online publication (the > "members manual")? Surely the whole point of it being online is so you don’t > have a printed copy?!! > > Oh, no, Stefan, that's exactly wrong. Reading something on-line is a pain in the ass. The purpose of it being on line is exactly so that I CAN print it out--like NOW--and then curl up with a G&T and my feet in the air and read it in abject comfort. No sitting upright at a stupid monitor I have to keep scrolling down and up and down and up and centering pictures and maps so they can be seen. And to have a hard copy for archival purposes so that I can retrieve it rapidly from the stack and not have to search around for the disk with the file on it, if I even remembered to back it up in the first place. The download just replaces the mailman--and rather supplants him, in fact. A hard copy is what we're after, but how we get it and how much it costs is the point to be considered. In reality, if you print your copy in color (ink jet), both sides you're probably spending $2 to $4 for ink per issue. That's about what an issue costs to print in bulk on a duplicator, + or -; more for offset. (How much, Mark?) So, the production cost is about the same but not borne by the TSA and they save a dollar or so on mailing costs--and a good bit of hassle mailing it. If you print it out in 11x17 you get a saddle stitched issue that you practically can't tell from the mailed version. Pretty neat, huh? Kinkos'll do it for ya, including folding and stapling, if you don't have a printer in that format. --Ediger --Ediger
