Why Is There No Driver CD and/or Manual In The Box?
These days, when you buy a product, it has become increasingly rare to find a driver CD and/or a full manual in the box.
The current popular approach is to include a 'Getting Started' sheet with the basics, which will have on it a URL to download the software and/or manuals (in PDF form) that you need.
This seems cheap (and it is, in a way) - but it also massively decreases waste and allows the manufacturers to keep their products more up to date - they know their customers will be downloading the latest versions of these things. It also neatly avoids issues of the 'format wars' (i.e. Mac/PC/Linux compatibility issues with discs). In all, once you're used to it, it probably is the better approach.
Also, the great number of computers being made now simply don't come with a disc drive (all Macs, and most PC laptops now simply rely on USB drives for removable storage). So including a CD is kind of anachronistic at this point.
The current popular approach is to include a 'Getting Started' sheet with the URLs you need for the manual and any driver or other software
That said, the big problem with this is, a certain percentage of folks never find their manuals and/or software. Epson printers are a classic example - 95% of the questions we get about these are easily answered by looking in the (excellent) PDF manual - but at least half our customers have never even realised they have access to the manual or that it exists! Which is a real shame, as it's actually an excellent manual. Indeed, generally we recommend you actually print the PDF manual out - sure you'll use some paper and ink, but with complex devices the manual is often an invaluable resource.
Also, here at Image Science, we try and keep our product pages really comprehensive. Down the bottom of each page, you will generally find links to both the latest software for your devices, and to that latest manuals. And if you happen to catch up missing a link - please let us know so we can fix that!
Note that sometimes we're unable to link directly to the manuals/software beacuse of they way the manufacturers have set up their website (sigh) - so instead we then link to the product page where you will find links or tabs to the downloads section that will have what you need.
