A potentially-interesting PC Guide idea

[ixl]

Hi all again...

Sure am giving this new forum a workout, aren't I? :)

As you all know, The PC Guide is a good resource, but it has also become out of date. No, scratch that, it is now VERY out of date.

I have a plan for rectifying this... but since I prefer to do all my work myself, it means it will take years before I can accomplish it. If I want to do all the work, it might be 2007 or even later before the materials are updated, at which point they will be getting ridiculously old.

Based on a suggestion from a friend of mine, I am considering a radical departure from my original model: collaborative writing. In the past I have had many different people approach me with the idea of contributing writing to The PC Guide, which I have uniformly turned down. But I think that this approach might be a way to get larger amounts of useful material on the site without my having to do all the work myself.

This idea is still in its fledgling stages, but I wanted to get some feedback from you all on it in general terms. What would probably happen is that I would spend a few weeks researching to get myself back up to speed on PC technologies, and put together an outline. I would then try to find writers interested in providing the material for individual sections or topics. I would edit and then publish the material online. It would eventually also end up in a print book, most likely.

The reward for this for writers would be mostly recognition and the chance to be published.. which can be very good on the resume. I might be able to include a small financial incentive, but I am not sure yet.

What do you think? Appreciate your feedback.

Charles

[Abbadon]

Sounds like a plan to me! A nice incentive for all writers would also be a copy of the print book (should there be one eventualy).

I don't think I have the experience myself to contribute in this, but I'd certainly like to see the guide updated so I'll think happy, productive thoughts ;)

[ixl]

That's a very good idea, Abbadon. Thank you!

c

[karatekid3d]

That sounds like a great idea!

Granted I'm not as knowlegable as some of the people on these forums but I would be more then happy to give writing an article a shot. If you liked what I wrote great, if not well then it was a great opprunity for me to lean about that particular subject. Plus it would be a great opprunity to give back to The PC Guides, since I have learned so much from them and everyone on the forums.

Again great idea!

[david eaton]

Sounds like a good idea.

Not certain that I know enough to be able to write a section, but will wait and see what sort of response you get.

I would certainly be willing to act as a proofreader, if needed.

[Steve]

Sounds like a good idea. You're going to need alot of writers to get it up to date though. But any additions, I'm sure, would be great. There's certainly plenty of expertise around here.

[classicsoftware]

It sounds like a plan......

[pentachris]

I've considered purchasing the offline edition of The PC Guide, but it is quite outdated. As a matter of fact, in the last few weeks I've wondered when an update would come. As soon as it's ready you'll have a buyer here. :)

[pave_spectre]

Sounds like a plan.:)

Another 1500 pages?:p Just be careful the internet doesnt collapse under the weight!:D

[Budfred]

I like the idea as well since I can't see anyway that you could keep up with the pace of change anyway.... I think it would be a good idea to update in sections as well rather than waiting until it is all done to post the whole saga...

I can contribute an ariticle on finding the sales on tech equipment since I don't have enough expertise in the true tech areas....:D

[killercow]

Sounds great! I don't think I could contribute much except maybe some how-to's, fix-common-problems articles, and a few bits on home networking. Not sure if you need this kind of stuff, but I too will help as a proofreader, if needed.

[classicsoftware]

Charles:

Now that I think about it. There might be a way to make some dollars for you. Do the PC-Guide by subscription. The book would be published as a loose leaf book. When updates are made, they are sent by snail mail or e-mail wia PDF with instructions on what page(s) to remove and what page(s) to insert. This way the guide is prepetually updated. You would have to pay to subscribe, but it would be worth it.

Just a thought.


Michael

[Paleo Pete]

Collaborative writing sounds good, as pointed out already it would be very difficult for one person alone to keep a work of this scope up to speed, so having a number of individuals on it at once would probably work well.

Just make sure they use spelling checkers... :rolleyes:

I could probably write something on...well, turning it on and off maybe... :D

[saphalline]

Wow! :eek: Yeah, the Guide is pretty outdated! I haven't checked it in awhile, but it hasn't changed. :rolleyes:

Hehe, don't mean to be cruel, but the most advanced CPU covered is the original "Klamath" PII! I can certainly help out in the area of processors, chipsets, and RAM technologies. If you want me to write up on those subjects, let me know.

[jeeza]

ixl, I am too of the opinion that this is a good idea.
But I am not sure that, relating to the amount of work it takes, this solution will alleviate you very much, because if you want to go on bearing the responsibility of what is published on this website, you will yourself have to check attentively what is being submitted.

[Inka]

Excellent idea ixl..!

As jeeza says, you will still need to collate all the info and make sure it all links together / it will need to be written in the same style throughout ideally too. It is, however, a good way of getting it updated in a reasonably short space of time. Would be happy to help out if I can.

[Jiggy]

This will be good for PC Guide and the members, also a good way to get more people looking at the site as a hole.

Im not a writer but ill help in any way if needed.

[ixl]

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I realize this will still be a lot of work, no doubt about it. But assuming I can get enough contributers -- and I haven't really started looking yet -- it is at least a way that conceivably I get more and more up-to-date material online quickly. It probably won't happen for a while yet, though, as I am too busy with other things at the moment.

c

[papertech]

I'm in, too!

The outdated stuff is still of value to any of us who still work on dinosaurs! And to those studying for certs as you are expected to know what was before you can learn what is.

[Abbadon]

Papertech has a good point: the older stuff should remain available, maybe in a "museum" section or something ;)

[Paleo Pete]

OK, realistically, it's mostly the hardware that is outdated, the basics and the way computers and components function is still mostly the same. A hard drive may be ATA 133 instead of 33, but it still has platters that spin really fast, still has read/write heads that sweep the surface on an air cushion to do the reading and writing, it still uses an IDE channel to communicate with the rest of the system, it just does it a lot faster and holds a lot more data. SATA is a different story, but not all that far removed from current hardware. (I don't know much about SATA though, so I'm not in a position to evaluate it.)

A lot of it is the same, improvements have been made but very few radical changes have been seen since the PC Guide was originally produced. Different types of RAM have been developed, the AGP bus has gotten 8x as fast and uses tons more memory on the card, chipsets have been improved and work a lot faster (and hotter), hard drives are lots bigger and faster, but the basics are still very similar. And most of us don't have to clean that stupid mouse out any more ! :D

I'm not saying a PC Guide update is not needed or is not a good idea, I think it would be terrific. I'm just trying to point out that it might not be quite as outdated as some people might think, since the fastest CPU mentioned is something like 233 or 266 MHz...on a 66MHz bus...

Anyway, yes, I like the idea of an update, as I stated last night, I Just wanted people to realize it's more hardware than basic functions that have changed.

And yes, I thing the existing material should remain available, for the same reasons already pointed out. And because...well, I'd miss it... :cool: After all, I've used it as a reference for 5 years, maybe more...Long before the forums existed anyway.

[jeeza]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete
Anyway, yes, I like the idea of an update, as I stated last night, I Just wanted people to realize it's more hardware than basic functions that have changed.

And yes, I thing the existing material should remain available, for the same reasons already pointed out.
Yes, I follow you in that it should remain available, but also because I think that it contains probably basic material which is still basic for a thorough understanding of computing but which might not be covered anymore in an update.

[BigBlue66]

I probably spend more time than I should in trying to keep abreast of changing technology. Have built more systems now than I can count...including budget systems to screamin kick arse powerhouses.

I am willing to write for you Charles. My writing instructors in college gave me top honors, not only for my writing ability but for helping others in the class get up to speed.

I also know the value of in depth research and know how to do it.

Wow, this is gonna be fun! Can't wait to get started.

[jeeza]

There should be a repositorium somewhere (on the net, obviously) for old material, or material which could be said to be outdated.
Probably there is something in that way already, don't you think ?
Everything which is considered still of value could be stored there.

[ixl]

I have no plans to delete any of the existing material, folks.

c

[ixl]

Oh and thanks to Pete and BigBlue. I don't anticipate this project starting for a little while, but I will certainly let everyone know when it does.

c