Nomen Nescio wrote:

> It now costs the big three exactly a buck fifty to supply a genuine shop
> manual for each and every car and truck they sell.
>
> That's what two CD-ROMs would cost them. One CD for shop procedures. One
> CD for parts catalogue. Those CD-ROMs should be sandwiched in the owner's
> manual.
>
> Do-it-yourselfers need them and so do old ladies. Why old ladies?
> Simple. When she breaks down someplace out of town, those discs will come
> in handy for the independent repair shop and his NAPA supplier.
>
> Never mind the paper edition. That's for dealerships and enthusiasts with
> money burning holes in their pockets.
>
> I'm waiting now for the complaint even $1.50 is a lot on a $30,000 car.
> Okay! Then we need a quick and dirty FEDERAL LAW MANDATING CD-ROM manuals
> in the interests of public safety. Improperly repaired cars are dangerous
> to your health and painful to your pocketbook as well. Let them charge
> $30,001.50 after the passage of this badly needed law. Too many laws on
> the books you say? Of course. At least 10000 of them, so what's one
> more? As bad as laws sometimes are, they are needed to keep the fat cats
> of Detroit on good behavior.
>
> If the Government can take it on to legislate the side wall markings on
> bicycle tires, they surely can mandate two simple CD-ROMs for every car.
> And you'll thank me for for it a thousand times over.
You don't know much about producing a product do you? If a cd costs $1.50
then how are you going to pay the salary for the people who write the text
for the manual, the editors who check them for errors, the project managers
who make sure they get done on time when the vehicle is released? Do you
think all cars are made by slaves in China so the shop manuals can be too?