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Hall Of Technical Documentation Weirdness

Posted by timothy on from the tab-a-slot-65901 dept.

An anonymous reader submits: "Generally speaking, with the exception of Tina on Dilbert, technical writers aren't very funny. This is something of a rare and unintentional exception. This guy has assembled a bunch of examples of bizarre technical illustration. There's only about 15 at the moment, but he's collecting further examples."

6 of 437 comments (clear)

  1. Oh Well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was oh so hoping there'd be something amusing waiting for me when I clicked through to this guys site. This guys sense of humor includes laughing at perfectly normal operation instructions because they contain "lots of arrows"? ...yawn... Did anyone really read this site before posting this lame-ass story?

  2. Not too weird... by jdreed1024 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Some of these are simply translated as "The person who wrote this doesn't understand this device".

    For example, in number "11", it's pretty clear it's not a fridge, but an A/V rack. (that being why it's included with a DVD player). And it's saying "Don't wheel the A/V rack towards you over uneven surfaces, or you'll end up underneath it writhing in pain".

    Exhibit 9 is not that stupid - it's pretty clear it's not a cartoon speaking bubble, but rather intimating that somewhere on your computer is a USB port.

    Exihibit 5: "I like it because it says 'insert trousers'" Huh? It's weird because it's correct English? Or it's weird because it's telling you what to do? Or it's weird because this guy doesn't know what "trousers" means? It's a pants press - how is it weird for it to tell you to insert your pants into the rack?

    Move along folks, nothing to see here.

    --
    There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
    1. Re:Not too weird... by TwistedGreen · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree, there are far better examples of absurd technical illustration. Most of these are just... not funny at all.

      [Stops himself from commenting on Slashdot's quality lately...]

  3. Rotten examples by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    A cute idea but he chose really boring, prosaic examples. In fact, in a fit of glorious self-reference, I think he should refer to his own page as an example of a poorly conceived, somewhat bizarre product of a technical writer...

  4. Re:Actually, 'may contain peanuts' has a reason by emptor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Actually, peanuts aren't nuts at all, but legumes (family Leguminosae). True nuts grow on trees, peanuts grow underground. The reason things get labelled "contains peanuts" is that some folk (rare though they may be) are allergic to peanuts (and have severe reaction to them), so the lawyer-types make them put that on food items that contain them. Now, as for other nut products being labelled the same, it's because they pften packaged in the same factories as peanuts so there may be some cross-contamination.

  5. Re:My other favorite military instruction by Quixotic+Raindrop · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's funny you mention that ... I find that to be the prime example of the world's best UI. There's nothing else you need to know about the Claymore itself. Setting the fuses for it requires slightly more information, but if you are the grunt installing it, you need zero additional information to place the mine correctly. That is perfect.

    --
    Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)