If my local library didn't have it, and the local bookstore didn't have it, the book may as well have not existed. The local bookstore was the size of a shoe store and carried a handful of popular titles and the most technical books they had were about building decks or, if you were lucky, rebuilding motorcycles.

You say the book wasn't rare, but I didn't know anyone who had one, or who even had access to one. I had a friend with a technical reference like that, but it was for the Apple ][, so that was no use. The only access to computers at all was at the local school, and the faculty had no idea how to use them for anything other than to train kids on typing.

Now that book is available online for free which is a sterling example of how much things have changed. Anyone who wants this information can get it if they look hard enough, and anyone with questions can get them answered by experts.