Re: [Boost-users] [serialization]

From: Daryle Walker (darylew_at_[hidden])
Date: 2005-11-13 09:57:03

On 11/12/05 12:21 PM, "David Abrahams" <dave_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> Nigel Rantor <wiggly_at_[hidden]> writes:
> 
>> David Abrahams wrote:
>>> Nigel Rantor <wiggly_at_[hidden]> writes:
[SNIP]
>>>> Any idea regarding the extreme difference in price of them?
["them" is the C++ standard as ANSI's book v. ANSI's PDF v. Wiley's book]
>>> 
>>> 
>>> It costs a lot more to print a book than to duplicate a PDF?
>> 
>> No, one comes either as a book for $175 OR as a PDF for $18. The other
>> is only available as a book for £34.00.
> 
> Oh, AFAIK the $175 is due to the fact that ANSI can't publish books
> efficiently and it uses the purchase of hardcover standards to keep
> the organization running.

Worse, I think the _authors_ also have to pay for the privilege to create
standards!  Only the publishers-in-the-middle ANSI & ISO get any money.
Both readers and writers have to spend it.  (Also, PDFs made from a scanning
of a book form keep the original price [i.e. expensive, crappy-looking, and
unusable].  So the early C standard PDFs were really expensive, until the
1999 version was written electronically.  Then the price lowered to the
similarly-created C++ standard's price.)

>> I was wondering why/how they can get away with $175...
> 
> The book from Wiley only came out a year or two ago; for a while the
> ANSI document was the only choice.
[TRUNCATE]

-- 
Daryle Walker
Mac, Internet, and Video Game Junkie
darylew AT hotmail DOT com