🚀 go-pugleaf

There are several reasons for moving to soft-bound manuals.  I for
one dislike having to fight rings when closing a binder.  Bound
manuals can save over 50% on shelf space, and they cut out the cost
of a binder.  It typically costs about 20% as much to bind the book
as it does to buy a good binder in large quantities.  Granted, the
books may or may not lie flat, but lying flat and durability are a
result of careful selection of papers and the quality of the 
binding process.  Many hardcover books are now glued instead of
sewn including many respected dictionaries.  Using bindings for
copyright protection may be a more important issue to a small
specialized software manufacturer than it is to a large computer
maker.  It has been my experience that, company policies aside,
most decisions of this nature are more closely related to
economic and logistical considerations than protection from a
copy machine.

Clarke Echols
HP-UX Documentation Staff
Hewlett-Packard Company

The usual disclaimers apply.  Opinions stated are strictly my own.