This is fast becoming yet another example of a mountain out of a molehill...
Twiggs post about a pic is anecdotal at best and even if true refers to a visual reference to an inconsistency in positioning of safety equipment.
The pic is not a sequential illustration of an engineering or surgical procedure!
This is all about a study aid because the official manual is cumbersome and costly to carry with you on trips.Instead of encouraging this chap the company is clamping down on an innovation which without a doubt helps crew to study and do the job they are paid to do.
The point regarding crew being confused with amendments is concerned is also erroneous.If a crew member does not amend their manual then they will also not amend their notes and this will show in their EP exam's.
I do not know of anyone who has not made notes during study with their manuals.A good example of this is the safety equipment locations.To look at say Fire Extinguishers for each aircraft you have to flick through the various chapters in the manual which is unwieldy,awkward & inconvenient.
Instead the study notes puts all the locations of fire extinguishers for all aircraft on the same page.The benefit of this is obvious and beneficial to anyone trying to study.
I have written many "guides" over the years for myself for various training events. They are obsolete the second they are written. Beware the amendment cycle.
The EP manual is just as affected and rendered obsolete as a result of amendments as a study guide is.
This study guide is not theft but instead uses available resources to accomplish a noble goal which instead of being encouraged is being squashed.
The usual suspects in the office do not like it because they cannot take credit for any of it...and that is probably the crux of this situation more than anything else.
I would not be surprised if at some point in the future the company comes out with something very similar (surprise....surprise) and all of a sudden is a great idea to those very people who are dismissive of it at the moment.