|
You
bring up a technical point I never considered - how to scan those 2 page fold
out schematics! Since there are only a few, that might be handled best by
farming them out, or perhaps by "stitching" (edge matching) two one page scans
together using paint application software. We have discussed software
before, and some like Adobe Capture is admittedly expensive, but some aspects of
its pricing need clarification. Access is a possibility, and as suggested
in another post, there is a version that contains a freely distributable
"reader". One resulting issue if that the resulting database would be
windows 95/98/NT specific. Software pirating shouldn't be an issue for a
very low demand item (after all, how many of us are there?). Copyright
needs to be addressed - I believe GE has a copyright (see my other post today),
and I believe a license is required. Hey - perhaps they could contribute
some "in-kind" services to the project. I wonder if the have the manual in
editable form or on microfilm? Contacts?
A CD
only costs a couple of bucks to generate in "variable costs" - the computer time
and the CD itself. The rest is the fixed cost of creation - royalties,
labor, materials, etc. As an experiment, I scanned the first 5 pages
of the Owner's Manual into an Access database in a matter of a few
minutes. I don't think scanning time will be a big deal - the bigger deal
will be to select a presentation vehicle (i.e. Access, Acrobat, or something
else) that does the best, lowest cost job of indexing and presentation.
As a
personal opinion, I would be in favor of "single sourcing" such an item through
our favorite vendor with a significant margin built in to allow the carrying of
slow moving inventory. I would guess at $20 - $30 (or about the same as
the paper manual) the publication costs of a CD would be absorbed over a small
number of copies.
|