[Info-vax] HP stopping VMS paper documentation ?

[AEF]

On Nov 28, 5:36 am, Alan Feldman <alanfeldma... at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 24, 10:44 pm, Michael Kraemer <M.Krae... at gsi.de> wrote:
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> > Neil Rieck schrieb:
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> > > Us too. As soon as electronic docs were available on CD-ROM (IIRC this
> > > was 1998-1999) we stopped the paper docs. It was better for us (cuz
> > > the stuff was searchable) and better for the planet.
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> > Is there any evidence that usage of (recycling) paper does
> > more damage to the planet at the bottom line than production
> > (and disposal) of equivalent electronic devices?
> > As far as I remember the production of an ordinary PC
> > requires about a metric ton of raw material and quite
> > a bit of energy. And it is thrown away after three years.
> > Even recycling that stuff costs energy
> > and requires poisonous chemicals.
> > And all this should be more ecological than a few hundred
> > sheets of paper? Hard to believe.
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> Damage to the planet? OK, I know what you "mean".
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> Grow some more trees, I say. Paper is a *renewable resource*! It's
> also recyclable!
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> Can you recycle your pdf files? I think not!
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> Another problem (real) with pdf's is that they're hard to read and
> Acrobat is a brain-dead program. Even Preview on the Mac has problems.
> I recently was given a pdf by my boss (uh, "manager") to read. It
> contained screenshots that were near impossible to read. I printed out
> the whole document (several dozen pages!). Now I can actually read the
> damn thing, screenshots and all.
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> I think I read somewhere that all this "paper saving" doesn't really
> do a smidgen's worth of good, and just makes tree-huggers feel good.
> It may not have been "paper saving", maybe it was recycling -- I
> forget. It was _some_ environmental-type thing.
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> Another step toward unreadability is the new Word default font. The
> spaces between words are barely visible. Obviously this was done by a
> tree-hugger, surely to allow more print to fit on a page, and hence
> less printed paper overall.
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> AEF

ANOTHER problem with using "electronic manuals" is the following: I
bought a digital camera a couple of years ago for a trip. The manual
is a pdf! Now am I supposed to schlep a fricking laptop and
accessories around on vacation? OK, it did come with a small printed
"quick start" manual. But you get the idea. Yeah, I could print it
myself, but it wouldn't be bound nicely; the pages would be harder to
turn.

AEF