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Re: (ET) Possible CD-ROM



Well that post started a lot of traffic.
As for the searchable text and OCR, I think this would make the cost extremely high considering the limited sales.There are a few factors pushing the cost of a CD version: 1.a scanner large enough to handle even the owners manual prints, 2.Software needed to generate the images. 3.and pirating of the disks.
I for one would not be very happy to spend say $2000.00 (?) of time and money to create a CD which will generate limited sales (I question if the sales would cover the costs)and then have it copied.
Out of curiosity what would anyone expect to pay for a searchable owners manual?
Walter
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 10:33 PM
Subject: (ET) Possible CD-ROM

In looking at the purely technical side of the ElecTrak documentation on CDROM concept, I found that Adobe has a product called "Adobe Acrobat Capture" which is used to create Adobe documents from scanned text (like the Homeowner's Serive Manual, for example).  This contrasts to Adobe Acrobat which is used to create Adobe documents from "editable text" - that is the files created by a word processor like Microsoft Word.  Since the ElecTrak documents are in printed form and need to be scanned, Adobe Acrobat Capture would be the appropriate choice.  The pricing is confusing, but it appears the minimum configuration is something like $600!  Pricing needs more research. I hope that someone out there has access to Capture at work.
 
I also found that Access 2000 (part of the Microsoft Office Professional suite) has a document imaging facility like Adobe, but very limited.  Of course, each user of a CDROM manual would have to own or buy Access, which is fairly expensive as a stand alone, making this a poor choice (Adobe Acrobat Reader is free).
 
And we haven't even begun to address issues like copyright.
 
Pieter Litchfield
new e-mail is: plitch attglobal net