Companies getting cheap?

[darkoptix]

Is it just me or are companies getting really cheap with computer software? For Example, manuals. I was reading a Slashdot Posting(link (http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/05/05/08/0140237.shtml?tid=192&tid=188&tid=194&tid=4) ) about printing manuals for computer software and whatnot. This got me thinking, remember the times when companies printed their manuals and supplied them with their software. Nowadays the software just comes with some cds, with the manual as a PDF. I remember buying games that came with elegant manuals, like a real book. Some had stories, tons of game info, and so much more. Now I buy halflife2 and i get, well nothing, a couple of cds WITHOUT plastic cases(just paper envelopes).

I think people should start demanding more than just software. I would like the extras too. People should not have to print them, they should be done by the company. I know it costs money, but it's getting more and more pathetic.

Just my two cents.

[kumakun]

I think it's just been the logical progression of industries towards smaller things. Laptops, cellphones...Hell, most technology has been shrunk. When the cost of burning a PDF onto a CD becomes less than the cost of publishing a book in printed form, the choice becomes clear for most companies.

Personally, if I like a manual that much, I'll print it off and give it to my wife to spiral bind. But then, the last game I got so heavily into that I cared about extensive backstory for was Wing Commander.

/Kuma

[Xian]

Is it just me or are companies getting really cheap with computer software? For Example, manuals. I was reading a Slashdot Posting(link (http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/05/05/08/0140237.shtml?tid=192&tid=188&tid=194&tid=4) ) about printing manuals for computer software and whatnot. This got me thinking, remember the times when companies printed their manuals and supplied them with their software. Nowadays the software just comes with some cds, with the manual as a PDF.
It depends on who you are dealing with. SuSE for example provides an excellent admin and user guide with their Linux boxed sets. They are so extensive that I'd even say they could be used a nice reference tool for many general Linux procedures and how-to's. But then there are those who always seem to provide such things as an add-on which must be purchased, or as you say just a PDF online file.

You'll end up paying for it one way or the other. I guess many companies found that consumers would just prefer to have the option of buying it separately instead of forcing it on them as part of an entire package at a higher price.

[Stormy Eyes]

Is it just me or are companies getting really cheap with computer software?

This isn't anything new. If memory serves me, the Windows 98 user's manual was a 48-page picture book.

[poofyhairguy]

Is it just me or are companies getting really cheap with computer software?

They have to. The competition is free in more ways than one....

[KiwiNZ]

How many users read the manual?
I know I only do when it goes to custard:razz: So an electronic version is fine with me. Paper based is old technology anyway.

[johneboy]

Personally it doesn't worry me too much. OK, so the companies are saving money, and from a commercial point of view it makes sense to help them compete. From an envirnomental point of view less paper is probably a good thing.

Regards

John

[TravisNewman]

See, one reason why I don't like pirating music is because the whole experience gets screwed up. You don't get the case, you don't get the insert with the lyrics, you don't get the add-on dvd that some send out, you don't get the smell. Same goes with software. I like HAVING that manual, even if I don't need it immediately. I remember one game that I got a while back, American McGee's Alice. A very twisted Alice in Wonderland story. The booklets that came with it are fantastic. There was even case history of Alice's time in the mental institution. That's GREAT. Half-Life 2 disappointed me. Just some cds in paper sleeves. psshhh. If the game weren't one of the best I've ever played, it would upset me ;)

[Stormy Eyes]

How many users read the manual?

Yo!

[WildTangent]

ahhh...i remember the old windows 95 manual...now THAT was a manual :) but of course, it was for windows so that makes it junk :P

i too would like to see the return on manuals, and programmers jokes in games. i was installing Duke Nukem 3D the other day, just for old times sake, and it had a problem installing on XP. the error message was as follows:
"Error installing....
You're screwed and I don't know why."

if i hadnt had that little bit of humour right there, id have freaked out (i take my duke nukem very seriously ;) )

-Wild

[GarySaved]

I may be showing my age, but does anyone remember the old windows Red Books?

Gary

[darthsabbath]

Heck, what about the OEMs getting cheap too? Dell (among others) doesn't even send an OS or Drivers CD anymore... it just sends a hard drive restore partition, which, if you alter the MBR (like installing GRUB ;-) ) you lose access too. Granted, you can get the CDs, but it seems to be a pain, particularly if you need to reinstall a driver.

Granted, I have my own XP and I primarily use Linux, as well as build my own systems. But for the poor consumer who doesn't know better, it's a pain in the rear (and they tell me EVERY day).

I also don't care for the idea of having 5-10 GB of hard drive space taken up by a restore partition.

Phil

[KiwiNZ]

Yo!

Ah but is that before you use it or after you have broken it :razz::)

[DJ_Max]

I really don't care about fancy packages, and tons of manuals and packages, most which are saying the samething. I actually prefer not to have all that stuff, it's a waste since it'll be thrown in the garbage as soon as I rip the box open. There's nothing pathetic about it.

[sas]

You can't beat the big boxes that PC games used to come in with all sorts of goodies....Reopened my transport tycoon game a short while ago, it had 2 game manuals, a quickstart manual, a manual to configure it and four floppy disks. In other games you got maps and soundtrack cds and other stuff too...

They're infinitly more collectible than todays dvd case with 4 dvds stuck on a plastic thing + thin manual with 10 languages bunged together for savings...

[DaturaX]

Heck, what about the OEMs getting cheap too? Dell (among others) doesn't even send an OS or Drivers CD anymore... it just sends a hard drive restore partition, which, if you alter the MBR (like installing GRUB ;-) ) you lose access too. Granted, you can get the CDs, but it seems to be a pain, particularly if you need to reinstall a driver.

Granted, I have my own XP and I primarily use Linux, as well as build my own systems. But for the poor consumer who doesn't know better, it's a pain in the rear (and they tell me EVERY day).

I also don't care for the idea of having 5-10 GB of hard drive space taken up by a restore partition.

Phil
By not printing manuals, having paper envelopes as CD cases, these companies are going green and saving the environment.

MS-DOS manuals comes to my mind. They were thick and heavy!