Gorodenski, Stanley wrote: In the article below SAS acknowledges it has an image problem that links it to the mainframe world. One way to overcome this is to produce manuals written for the ordinary user instead of something that reads like a mainframe techy manual. .......If all manuals produced by SI were written like this one, it might go a long way toward negating the 'mainframe' image,

and toward increasing the use of SAS. In my department, one reason cited for

not getting any SAS data warehouse software was that SAS was too 'code intensive'. A contributing factor to this perception are manuals that only the exceptional can understand. Stan ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------

While I am glad that Stan found the Carpenter book rewarding, I must comment on the rest of his posting.

IMHO, the image problem that SAS has is not based on its manuals. I think that the image problem stems from the ignorance level of managers in IT shops. Dr. Goodnight hints this as well. The very managers looking for the latest 'bell & whistle' products don't even know how dependent they are on the SAS products they already have. Furthermore, this industry underwent a 'civil war' between those of us who were on mainframes and those folks on the newer client/server platforms. In the battles that took place, mainframes were vilified. SAS, and SAS users , were casualties even though SAS had products for use on almost all platforms.

The Institute has priced itself into this image. Hopefully, it will see the light and be innovative in changing its prices. I think that the new Learning Edition is one such innovation.

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