I used to consider myself pretty savvy when it came to electronic gadgets, but no more. Case in point, this morning I was having some trouble with my new iPod Nano and could not figure out what I was doing wrong. So I ended up calling my d-i-l for help. She gave me a suggestion (which didn't work, but it set me on the right path and I did eventually figure out what I was doing wrong.) still, I was rather frustrated. At one time, I'd have flipped open a manual and read through it to figure things out, but no more. Now we have "help" screens.
I hate that. Yes, the entire manual is there. Yes, you can "flip" through it and read it. But it's not the same. In the past, when I got a new gadget, one of the first things I did was open the manual and read it. (Yes, I'm one of *those* people.) I love manuals. I love paging through them and finding new nuggets of information. I love being able to solve things on my own. Now I have to figure out what I don't know so I can enter the question in the "search" box. Half the time, I don't know what I don't know so I ask the wrong question - or the search engine comes up with stuff that isn't even close to what I need.
Yes, I know online manuals are better for the environment. They are more available, supposedly easier to use, and save the cost of printing, paper, shipping, etc. And I do try to be as green as possible in my consumer driven life so I know they are better all around.
But I miss my manuals.
2 comments:
I can totally relate to this; I spent my entire afternoon reading the manuals for our new home theater system in an attempt to understand what the buttons labeled (and appropriately colored) "Blue", "Red", "Green", and "Yellow" are for. Never did find out...
I'm a paper manual also. I like being able to flip back and forth and keep all the info right in front of me. How can I look at two pages at once on the computer? I know there's probably a way, but I don't have a manual how to do that.
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