Web CD

[KBTS]

Did the Web CD's ship yet? I saw a post from Brad that they were due to ship right before the new year.

[Brad Imsdahl]

There was a delay. When we tested it there were several issues that needed to be resolved. We have an initial release being shipped on Friday of this week with TheTaxBook, most 2006 IRS pubs, instructions, and forms, and a fully functional search feature that is included on the Web CD. A second version of the Web CD will be shipped by the end of the month that will include the rest of the 2006 IRS Pubs, instructions, and forms. The linking feature between TheTaxBook and IRS publications will be included in the second version shipped at the end of the month. The Web update feature will work on the second version for any future updates that need to be made. I apologize for the delay.

[KBTS]

Thanks Brad.

[BOB W]

Brad.....

I know this is a new product and "new" is always troublesome plus the late tax law changes. Is there a reason why it needs to be "shipped"? Why can't subscribers just download the "initial" version and continue to update additional versions and regular updates? I'm sure it would make your life easier.

This practice is common and most of us are familar doing this with our tax and accounting programs. Some charge extra for the shipped CD version.

[Brad Imsdahl]

The initial CD contains over 500 Megs of data. It would take several hours to download the program over the Web. Subsequent update files will be much smaller and thus not take as long. Most of our customers would not want to have to tie up their computers for hours just to load the program, and so we did not set it up for downloads on the initial release.

[BOB W]

oK

.... you know best. Just thought it would be an option. Compression or Zip is out?

[Brad Imsdahl]

Compression or Zip is out?

Ideally in the future, we will be able to do that. Our web site will also need to be set up to handle the password and security issues associated with software downloads. For this first release, all of our resources have been devoted to making the Web CD function properly. Software development is a whole different animal than book publishing. That’s all I care to say about that….

[BOB W]

The.....

..... direction you are going is the best at this time and I agree with you fully. I just was giving you food for thought for the future. Sorry to be a pest.

[Brad Imsdahl]

You’re not a pest, Bob. It’s people like you that keep us on our toes. One reason the CD is late is because I knew people like you would not accept the errors on our initial test product.

[BOB W]

I'm......

...... in no rush. This is something that many of us asked for last summer and I happy you were able to get this far. Many companies take years to accomplish what you did in months. Our hats are off to you, THANKS.

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Added: Anybody wear hats any more?????

[geekgirldany]

yeah I am in no rush either. I sent a email last week wondering where it was at. I am excited about the regular updates. I can't wait to try out the WebCD

[Ken]

what is it?

Okay I'm going to ask probably the stupidest question that will be posted on this message board this year.

What is this web CD you all are talking about?

[Ken]

hey I'm a senior.

Now I KNOW why I posted that stupid question. It MADE me a SENIOR member!!!

[Brad Imsdahl]

What is this web CD you all are talking about?

TheTaxBook in electronic format.

http://www.thetaxbook.com/webcd.asp

The WebCD is a CD that is loaded on to your hard drive, and then subsequent updates to TTB are downloaded via the Web to your hard drive so that you always have the latest greatest version of TheTaxBook. The print version is updated once per year. The electronic version is updated like your tax software several times per year. As new stuff hits, your electronic version of TTB is updated to include that stuff.

[ChEAr$]

And my question is

How much does this web CD cost?

OR, is it included in what I already paid?