The Great Manual Repository

blog.jgc.org

27 points·jgrahamc··7 comments

There are a few sites that warehouse manuals (e.g. retrevo.com). What I do personally is every time I get a new gadget (be it a camera or a steamer), I find pdf manual and save it in a special folder in Dropbox - that way it is readily available, and I do not have to dig through boxes.

It would be great if every manual would come with URL and QR-code to the vendor's official pdf and ePub.

What I would like to see is for gadget and appliance makers to include a USB port on their devices that works as follows:

1. If you insert a formatted flash drive, the device creates a folder named after the gadget if that folder does not already exist.

2. In that folder, the device writes out a PDF copy of its manual, and of any other documents that would have come with the device when purchased.

3. If the device folder existed when the drive was inserted, and the device supports field updates of firmware, it looks in that folder for a firmware update and applies it if found.

Someone in the comments suggested making this an extension to Google Books. I think that's a great idea; matching Google's searching / scanning capabilities and large amount of storage space almost makes this a no-brainer.

The question is: would Google deem it worth their time? I ask because I'm not too familiar with Google Books and how they may try to make money from it.

Doesn't retrevo do this?

http://www.retrevo.com/samples/index.html

In exchange for providing the manuals, offer the companies the ability to display an ad when someone accesses their manual.

Also serve their competitors' ads when a user doesn't find their manual.

Manupedia.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com