I think its a fair question. Think of the trees! lol.
As Tichy said, makes it much easier to update. And if my daughter gets to it (as she has done to some other, far less important game manuals) then I'll be stuck.
Well the point made by Tichy above raises a question I hadn't considered. If there have been substantial patches and changes since the original manual was printed, does the manual being sent to new purchasers of the game contain updated rules and information?