Buried behind my Windows XP machine is an old PIII/500 running the now unsupported Windows 98SE. I’m not sure why I still have this computer, though it’s probably easier to keep than dispose of, since it’s connected to the monitor, keyboard, and mouse of the XP machine through a KVM switch. One never knows when they might come across a piece of software that requires booting up the legacy machine and operating system. Yeah, right…
I won’t go into details of why, but the other day I needed to retrieve some files from the Win98 machine. I figured the quickest way would be to attach a USB thumb drive (also known as a USB flash drive) to the computer, copy the files over, and then connect the thumb drive to the XP machine. I was in for a surprise because when I connected the thumb drive to the Win98 machine, the computer didn’t recognize the drive. Okay, I thought. I’ll just visit the thumb drive manufacturer’s site, download the Win98 drivers, install them, and connect the drive.
Well, after seven installs of the manufacturer’s driver and Windows 98 being unable to find the driver to install, I then realized why all the Windows 98 books I published sold so well. Unfortunately, because I was involved with so many books over the years, I had at some point in the past purged all my Windows 98 books, so I couldn’t reference any for an answer. Of course, in reality, very rarely do I reference any of my books for quick information, when I can usually find the information on google. Anyway, I typed in the Google search box “flash drive generic driver” and the second search result had my answer at Technical-Assistance.co.uk, a Windows 98 SE Generic USB Mass Storage Device Drivers installer. I downloaded the file, installed the drivers, and and was able to mount the thumb drive under Windows 98 without any further problems.
So why am I sharing this story with you? Well, this experience reminded of a conversation I had with Dave Taylor at Gnomedex in Tahoe a few years back. Dave presented the idea of posting the content from out of print and obsolete books online, so people could have access to the information. The publisher/author could monetize the content through advertising, upselling and maybe even affiliate relationships. Soon after the conference, Dave called me at the office with the idea that a huge portion of the population was still using Windows 98 in one form or another, most books on Windows 98 were either out of print or hard to find, so why not post all the content from our Windows 98 books online for people to access for answers? Wow, what a cool idea.
Well, unfortunately due to some legal and contractual issues, I couldn’t use the content from the Windows 98 books to create the Windows 98 online super resource that Dave had sold me on, but the point is many publishers and authors out there are sitting on what they consider to be obsolete material, when in reality the content is only obsolete while on paper and being sold through traditional retails channels. It may still have an audience and value to you as publisher or author, if you explore what the internet has to offer for distribution.
