New Jetstar pilot recruits are being sent a full 'paper' version of all manuals several weeks before they start training. At the end of the training they have the option to either give them back or pay $150 to keep them. If they keep the manuals there will be no ammendment service offered. All pilots will be issued regularly with CDs that are kept up-to-date. I understand that this measure will save the company something like $27k. The manuals in electronic form are quite adequate for finding a specific point of interest, but would be difficult to study for an initial endorsement.
There is no requirement for any pilot to buy the 'paper' manuals, everything seems adequate to my liking, and Jetstar save some money.
It's not perfect, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as a few of you may believe.