You don't get it do you? We are the PC technicians that help you. I'm a freelancer. I get hired to go over to peoples houses and set up/fix their things. The top members here will give you the same answers a local tech will. Because WE are the local techs. We just have such a large passion about our work that we enjoy helping others for free. By using the internet, we can create a central point for everyone to come to looking for help. We can also help people all over the world.
A lot of our research comes from the internet because data spreads the fastest. In the time it takes to publish a book or magazine about technology, the same technology can already greatly change. Writer Paul Thurrot (Windows 7 Secrets) even said new features in the Win7 release made him want to change a few things the day his book came out.