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First, with widespread broadband, there needn't be any particular reason for sending CDs at all...unless, perhaps, you bundled them into some other shipment already going to your dealers.
Second, I would not suggest auto-update at all--if by that you mean what you were wondering, that is, to "...auto-update an entire web site that resides on the technicians' hard drives."
For one thing, that would expose you to considerable potential liability; for another, there is no reason that the technician must run a Windows box if it is a purely Web-based product. It is simple enough to do an email to the technician/dealers when an update is available, perhaps with a button they can push to download it. That way, it is the technician's decision...and you don't know in advance what sort of security they might be running, what they might have to do to enable your download to pass it, etc.
I know if I were one of these dealers (which implies they are independent business people), *I* certainly would not want anyone to have unfettered access to my computer. For example, perhaps I am corresponding with one of your competitors--I might be a *little* concerned that this sort of information might not remain confidential in such a case.
However, before I went too far with your plans, I suggest soliciting comments or having an email poll of your dealer base to determine what features *they* consider important. If this is a fairly normal proposition, I doubt whether you now are aware of all of their concerns from their viewpoint.
David
-----Original Message from Goldstein Steven (STNA-IN/PRM1) <Steven -dot- Goldstein -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com>-----
<<<<[automatic updates] If this is possible, then I might only have to
send 1,500 CD-ROMs to the technicians once (to install the first
release of the documentation, plus to install the auto-update
software).>>>>
<<That's a big time and cost saving on your end, and thus, well worth
recommending.>>
Agreed. What I'm wondering is if I can auto-update an entire web site
that resides on the technicians' hard drives....
Steve
Steven -dot- goldstein -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com
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