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Response to Queries About a Print Version

I am often asked if there is, or is going to be, a version of The PC Guide available in print form. The answer to this question is "not now, maybe in the future but probably not". There are several reasons for this:

• Lag: One of the main reasons why The PC Guide is so useful to readers is that it is reasonably current. While there are many good hardware reference books on the market, several of which contain a lot more information than The PC Guide does, they are almost always out of date the day they hit the shelves. It takes many months to compile, edit, publish, print and distribute a book. The PC industry is fast-moving and by the time the book is available for sale, it’s already behind the times. I want to avoid this with my material to whatever extent possible. Even though I went through a "dry spell" for a while, I believe this principle still holds true, and going forward, the site is going to be kept quite close to the state of the art in the industry.
• Difficulty of Format Conversion: A web site does not translate well into print form. The hierarchical structure is impossible to maintain while making the book readable, and all the language that mentions links to other pages would have to be changed.
• Cost and Logistics: Getting a book published means a significant investment of time and money, neither of which are available in great supply to me right now. If I devote my energies to a book, I have much less time to work on the site.

My compromise to those who want the material in print form is the PDF version of the Disk Edition, which makes it easy for you to print out as much of the Disk Edition as you are willing to provide the ink and paper for. :^)

I won’t rule out a print version of the site at some point in the future, but for the reasons stated above, I don’t think it’s too likely to happen. Of course if some famous PC book publisher is reading this and wants to make me an offer I can't refuse, I’ll certainly listen. :^)

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