Re: (ET) CD rom Tech book

["David Roden (Akron OH USA)" <roden ald net>]

I know that the concept of hearty competition is a founding principle of 
our country, but it's ironic that in some market segments (desktop 
computers, for example), supply seems to overwhelm demand.  Some may say 
that this is good for the consumer, but that's not so clear when one 
can't get user support from manufacturers who've been forced to cut out 
every last non-retail expense to compete.  

What I'm leading up to, I guess, is a seconding (or thirding or whatever) 
of the suggestion that most ET marketing might serve users best in the 
long run when routed through Tech Service.   

I spoke with someone a while back about his interest in a business 
related to the ET, and it got me thinking about this.  I'm still not 
convinced that there is enough of a user base to support more than one 
vendor.  It sounds like it barely supports Tech Service as it is.  

I don't know how keen Bill Gunn is on developing his own CD, so I think 
this is a project that could be carried out in partnership.  As for 
price, I don't think $40 - $50 would be unreasonable for a highly 
detailed shop manual on CD for the ET, and with all his support effort, I 
think Bill deserves to keep a healthy chunk of that price.  

I don't see much benefit to setting up a webpage.  I considered this some 
time back, but concluded that it would take quite a lot of server storage 
to load enough information, and would be pretty painfully slow for dialup 
users.  I'd rather have a CD.  

One final request on that CD.  Please make it as portable as possible 
(meaning, at the very least, no long filenames).  It should be useful to 
folks with all kinds of systems, from the latest Bill Gates-approved box 
to a Mac Classic to a small Linux system.  

Further comments and criticisms welcome.  Thanks.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
1991 Solectria Force 144vac
1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
1979 General Engines ElectroPed 24vdc
1974 Honda Civic EV 96vdc
1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc