Mxsmanic wrote:
Blanche writes:

Not really. Creating the distribution media is pushing the button. But
acquiring the data from the appropriate CAA (civil aeronautical
agency), verifying & validating it, then ensuring it's in a format
suitable for distribution for the corresponding hardware/software...

That's what you're really paying for.

Over, and over, and over, even though it's a one-time conversion, highly
automated, that costs very little. There are no white-haired scribes
transferring data from one sheet of parchment to another, even though the
final product is priced as though there were.

Actually, there is. 1/4 of the first floor of the main offices is
dedicated to an extremely human-labor-intensive activity that must
validate and verify *each and every* item of information when it
comes in from the various CAAs. I didn't notice any "white-haired scribes",
oh wait -- yes, there were a couple of gentlemen that might be offended
at the term.

Then the data is verified and validated a *second* time.
Add to this the time constraints - there are four cycles of
7/14/28/56 days depending on need. Then and only then can the data
be converted to the JAD - Jeppesen Aviation Database, from which
all Jepp data is munged.

Every time an airport changes a frequency, identifier, phone number,
runways, departure procedures, approach procedures, terminal information,
fixes (intrument, visual, GPS), low-enroute, high-enroute, *anything*.
And it happens more frequently than most people realize imagine.

And, Jepp handles the world. When I use the term CAA, that's the generic
for any country's aviation authority. In the US, it's the FAA. There's
also the JAA, and others.

The advantage of living in the Denver area - Jepp is located just
west of the 17-35 runway of KAPA. When you decide to visit, I'll
happily arrange a tour.