Am I the only one who wants a Protools Hard Copy Reference Manual?

[madgt621]

Really cheap? I'd rather have them spend the money on R&D for new features that aren't in the program yet, rather than spending it to produce a hard copy of something thats already in every version of the program.

[JFreak]

No point in bringing up the R&D here. It takes skill level of a secretary to deliver a pdf file to print house -- even if it did cost 10 dollars a piece and Avid was selling it for 50 it shouldn't be that bad business. They just have somehow forgotten about it...?

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by Dism

Man, I don't get anything paper anymore. In this country, you have to jump through hoops just to get your phone company to send you a paper bill. Hell, my tax forms didn't even get mailed to me.

Paper is going away, and it's a good thing. Change is scary, but there are plenty of options outside of bright monitors. Get yourself a nice eReader with PDF support (ie Kindle). Easier on the eyes than a big glaring screen, and you can put all of your manuals for everything on it.

As was mentioned before.. Saves shelf space for more gear.

Dism,

Have you read "Fahrenheit 451" or "1984"? The prospect of eliminating all paper and replacing everything printed with computer code---Hmmmm. Remember when Dan Rather's news team was caught actually fabricating documents, then passing them off as real--as evidence that something had actually happened. Imagine giving a government, or some news agency that much power over information!!

It isn't green, I know. And it isn't practical to have everything printed on paper. But to envision and encourage a day to come when all printed resources are digitized and stored on servers is scary to me. In "1984", the protagonist worked for the "Ministry of Truth". Orwell, the author, hadn't conceived of PDF's, Times New Roman, etc. What his character did was to take the printed documents on archive, and alter, change, fabricate or eliminate them to fit the political needs of the day. And those who spoke up about inconsistencies they remembered quietly disappeared. If Orwell thought that the time would come when changing a document was as easy as cutting and pasting in Adobe, I think "1984" would have been even more foreboding. Something to think about--

Anyway, to the original poster, if Avid had an option to purchase a printed manual, I'd probably buy it---say $50 -$75 US at the most. But as others have said, each update slightly alters the accuracy of the manual. But I'd still like to browse through a hard copy at times. Much more enjoyable. I search PDF's for info. I never browse through PDF's.

Tim

[Dism]

Originally Posted by TimothyJohn

Dism,

Have you read "Fahrenheit 451" or "1984"? The prospect of eliminating all paper and replacing everything printed with computer code---Hmmmm. Remember when Dan Rather's news team was caught actually fabricating documents, then passing them off as real--as evidence that something had actually happened. Imagine giving a government, or some news agency that much power over information!!

It isn't green, I know. And it isn't practical to have everything printed on paper. But to envision and encourage a day to come when all printed resources are digitized and stored on servers is scary to me. In "1984", the protagonist worked for the "Ministry of Truth". Orwell, the author, hadn't conceived of PDF's, Times New Roman, etc. What his character did was to take the printed documents on archive, and alter, change, fabricate or eliminate them to fit the political needs of the day. And those who spoke up about inconsistencies they remembered quietly disappeared. If Orwell thought that the time would come when changing a document was as easy as cutting and pasting in Adobe, I think "1984" would have been even more foreboding. Something to think about--

Anyway, to the original poster, if Avid had an option to purchase a printed manual, I'd probably buy it---say $50 -$75 US at the most. But as others have said, each update slightly alters the accuracy of the manual. But I'd still like to browse through a hard copy at times. Much more enjoyable. I search PDF's for info. I never browse through PDF's.

Tim

Whoa... that's a bit of an extrapolation... considering "documents" have been manipulated since people have been making records. Just because we are entering a new medium doesn't mean we'll suddenly lose control of our information. If anything, the digital age has only lead way to the spreading of information that was never before possible by those outside of controlled media sources. Digital information can be spread and stored in many different locations nearly simultaneously. There is no longer a single authority on any subject, and language is evolving faster than it ever did on paper. The idea of print is becoming ever more archaic as we begin to merge with technology. As much as I like the dystopian fiction (and as nearly clairvoyant Orwell was), there are a lot of things they don't predict. Rogue hackers are a big part of it, as are mass media whistle-blowers, and even *gasp* torrent sites.

Digital is simply the new paper. Just as forged documents can be examined for alterations, so too does digital manipulation leave evidence. You'd be amazed at how much data can be retrieved from a "wiped" hard drive.

[Chris Lambrechts]

I thought I couldn't live without hard copies of manuals until about a year ago. I used to hate reading pdf's on a computer. especially manuals.

And then I got myself one of those popular tablet brands / second generation.

Ever since I couldn't care less for a hard copy of the manuals. In fact - I now would not even bother to unpack them if they were included. PDF's > annotations / notes / even write on them with one of those sticky pens.

LOVE it. No way back. Same for books. I hadn't read a book in YEARS and since I got the tablet I've read 5 or 6.

PDF's and tablets. Fight it as much as you like. It is not going to go away. Might as well use them for their advantages as well. And those for me now outweigh the disadvantages. .... by FAR

Chris

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by Dism

If anything, the digital age has only lead way to the spreading of information that was never before possible by those outside of controlled media sources.

Great point! In fact, it was someone on the internet who noticed the typeset on the fabricated documents did not exist at the time said documents were supposed to have been created. I still would not feel comfortable with all documentation existing purely in the digital realm though.

And consider the fact that there have been numerous (and ongoing) attempts to control/regulate the flow of information over the internet. We hope, of course, that the free-flow of information (1st ammendment?) is not abridged. And even in existing authoritarian states, such attempts have only been marginally successful.

Tim

[Emcha_audio]

Originally Posted by Chris Lambrechts

I thought I couldn't live without hard copies of manuals until about a year ago. I used to hate reading pdf's on a computer. especially manuals.

And then I got myself one of those popular tablet brands / second generation.

Ever since I couldn't care less for a hard copy of the manuals. In fact - I now would not even bother to unpack them if they were included. PDF's > annotations / notes / even write on them with one of those sticky pens.

LOVE it. No way back. Same for books. I hadn't read a book in YEARS and since I got the tablet I've read 5 or 6.

PDF's and tablets. Fight it as much as you like. It is not going to go away. Might as well use them for their advantages as well. And those for me now outweigh the disadvantages. .... by FAR

Chris

And to say Roddenberry had it right when he introduce the tablet in TNG oops yes I'm a bit of a sci-fi fan hehehe Still there will always be something about holding a real book and flipping pages.. well until there's none left, which I doubt will ever happen.

[daeron80]

Originally Posted by Dism

the digital age has only lead way to the spreading of information that was never before possible by those outside of controlled media sources.

Hadn't thought about that but you're right. "They" can't put a quarter million digital copies of pdfs down the memory hole. All the same, I'm almost finished chiseling the manual for PT 3.1 in granite and I won't settle for anything less.

[filosofem]

Nope. I love hard copies too. Manuals, books, magazines, DVD's, CD's, synthesizers, effect pedals and racked gear. I just spent Easter away from computers, in the sun reading a hard copy of Alchemy's manual, washed down with a few BB's.

[paulreed]

I've still got 2 copies from version 5 I think, back when we got them.

If anyone wants one, pay the postage and I'll send it to ya.