Slashdot Mirror
When Do You Read the Instructions?
An anonymous reader asks: "I originally submitted this as a poll, but the answers I'm guessing, were way too long. However, I would like to ask the crowd at Slashdot: When do you read the instructions?"
"So when do you reach for that instruction booklet? Do you:
- ...research on the internet, in magazines and also pestering friends who own one, so you're an expert before buying said item?
- ...carefully read the box and all of the instructions even before unwrapping the protective plastic?
- ...study the instructions and the quickstart guide?
- ...refer to the instructions and study the quickstart guide?
- ...lose the instructions when throwing the packaging away, but study the quickstart guide hoping for the best?
- ...look at quickstart guide when it's not obvious how to turn it on?
- ...frantically search the instruction book after letting the 'magic smoke' out of your appliance hoping you'll find somewhere saying it's suppose to do that?
- ...after it's been smashed to pieces with a hammer?"
Depends on how important it is... if it's for my servers that thousands of users at work need to access, you can be sure as hell I read the release notes.
If I'm just playing around... that's it, I play around and look at the manual if there's a problem.
Sig!
I look at the box, and then try it. If it's not obvoius how it works then after some fiddling I might look at the instructions. I've worked in a computer shop for the last 3 odd years and it hasn't failed me yet.
... and then I read the instructions.
I think the only time I ever touch manuals and instruction books is when something breaks or is bugging the hell out of me. Usually it doesn't help much either :)
I never read manuals, but I'd be willing to start if they started putting pictures of naked women in them.
I also use Windows...no manuals needed! Plug and Play! USB! I never buy stuff from companies that don't have an 800 tech support number. Let THEM read the manual to me!
I read the article, i am going to read the instructions.
The lunatic is in my head
...is opening up a new box and figuring it out yourself. A lot of times if I'm installing hardware (especially USB), I see if the quick start guide says to install software then plug in or visa versa. But I definitely don't follow things step by step through the manual. I often look at the book when something doesn't work, but most "troubleshooting" steps found in support manual are so amateur that they are useless. I don't like to call customer support for anwers; many times I'll just post on a relevent message board.
-Tim
if you call "instructions" that small piece of paper that goes with the object, well, no I don't read them. They are usually useless - spending more pictures and pages for the dummy window (l)user, and not telling any technical detail. It's more entertaining to search for the "technical manual" on the Net, if there's any.
The only case when I -very quickly- read them it's when I'm looking for the default password of a piece of networked equipment. which usually it's not even written down.
cheers
---
open source is like poker: would you trust a deck of card that you cannot see being shuffled, but you have to trust who said it was done?
-- There are two kind of sysadmins: Paranoids and Losers. (adapted from D. Bach)
Are there devices out there which are not operated by a hammer?
If you read a speed reading book, does it take you less time to read the second half?
Yes and yes. I always read the instructions. I wish everyone would.
RTFM; please, I beg you.
readmes are for wimps; manuals are for girls.
If the user interface is well thought out and cleanly designed, no instructions should be needed to use the device (software or hardware) correctly.
If you require instructions, the device is too complicated and is badly designed.
The obvious exception is where the equipment is dangerous / mission critical / requires complicated user interaction. For example, cars have a pretty simple interface (at the minimum: a wheel and two pedals), but you need to know the rules of the road to use these machines safely.
Note: Yes this is a broad generalisation, but this is slashdot.
Because the guys jump into using it so quickly, they learn faster through trial and error. The pace of learning with girls is a lot slower due to their desire to know how stuff works first.
This has parallels with "reading instructions". From the large sample of friends that I have, very few of them (male) ever choose to read the instructions.
Personally, I'm affronted that I even need to read the instructions (especially for consumer electronic items). In this day and age, electronic items (VCR/DVD/camcorder/digicam) should be usable by anyone who spends 60 seconds playing with it (think iPod). In short, we should not ever need to read instructions.
Man watching 6 MSCE's around a sun box, looks alot like the opening scene's of 2001:space odyssey...
When you first get it, you're usually too excited to be bothered by a thick manual. The quickstart suffices for a while, while you fiddle around with it.
But for complex gadgets with more than an on/off switch, and I'm talking things such as digital cameras, mp3 players and the like, there are typically more options than you could manage to figure out on your own, even if given the time. A lot of the extras in gadgets like these are harder to do than a street fighter combo.
Take the time to read through the entire manual, usually while sitting on the pot, and aquaint yourself with all the tricks and extras it has to offer. There's no other way.
Tasks are always pretty much the same from product to product. For instance: adding a USB peripheral, adding SCSI peripheral, changing a monitor, replacing a keyboard. Most unique tasks are OS based (eg. adding users, changing passwords). But if you're an admin or hardware tech, you should rarely need to read instructions.
Obvious exceptions are default passwords are understanding DIP switches.
when Cowboy Neal tells me to!
Monstar L
If I have problems with some specific hardware I look into the manual or if I need some tech-specs
like horizonal or vertical frequencies of a monitor. Most of the time those QuickStart guides
are useless for be because they focus on setting up the hardware in windows environments.
I bought a new TFT Flatscreen and the manual was provided on a CD. My luck was that the screen
accepted my XOrg settings and worked right out of the box. The manual itself was a set of html pages
that didn't work under linux using firefox due to some hardcoded uppercase filenames (probably javascript)
that couldn't be found. If instruction manuals are provided only on CD - please as a PDF.
I read the directions once I've let the magic smoke out of the device in question. You see, all electronics works on magic smoke. This is easily proved by the fact that if you let the magic smoke out of your electronic device, it generally no longer functions.
Depends on the product, really.
For the wireless router I picked up, I looked long enough through the manual to pick up the configuration address for my browser-- I already knew how to set it up otherwise.
For my recent motherboard upgrade, I checked the manual thoroughly to make sure there weren't going to be any surprises on the compatibility front, especially with RAM.
For videogames, I typically check the story section, a quick glance at the controls, and a quick glance over the weapons, with a later full-readthrough when I decide to see if there's anything I've missed. MGS3, which I picked up at launch, is a great example of such. I checked the CQC stuff in the manual, but I knew enough about the rest of the game from the previous games and demo to have no problems.
So, all in all I typically avoid using the manual unless I have to, but I don't hesitate to use it at that point.
I translate them :)
./R My blog
Read the manual? I'm sorry, Manuel is not home now.
This goes under :
Reading the instructions...only when everything else has failed... 8p
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
If I'm looking for something for a very specific purpose, and there's a particular feature I want ot be really sure is going to work how I want, then I won't buy without being able to download the manual beforehand. I recently bought a Pioneer AV amp, and wanted to be clear on whether it *really* had 3 digital ins, or 1 and 1 you could switch from optical to electrical, for example.
Other things only get the manuals read when I'm either really bored or really stuck. I've never read the manual for my original ipod (it was a mac-only CD, and I didn't have a mac, from memory, so I couldn't even if I wanted to).
It's worth pointing out that I do suffer from a case of 'I wish I'd known it could do that' every few months as a result.
My VW Golf has a wierd hidden feature that I don't think you'd ever be able to find without reading the manual - you can change the period of the intermittent wipe, but there's not explicit control for it. You turn it on, wait, then off, then back on again. The length of the wait becomes the delay between wipes. It's kind of clever when you know about it, but it's pretty poor UI that you would never guess it. Then again, the Mercedes-style wall-o-buttons isn't so great either.
"don't fall into the fallacy of believing that Perl can solve social problems. Maybe Perl 6 can, but that's a ways off"
As I get older, I find my confidence gives way to caution. I just bought a new soldering iron. I've been in electronics for over 20 years. What could be simpler than a soldering iron?
Of course I got it to melt solder, but reading the manual showed me two things I wouldn't have picked up otherwise.
1) There's a hard limit to the temperature you can set by using a hex wrench and adjusting a 'ring' around the knob.
2) The sponge has a hole in the middle. I just assumed it was for solder to fall into the holder, but you are supposed to use the piece from the center as a wick to draw water from the bottom and keep the sponge wet. Neat.
Only when I can't get the device working or I want to fully understand what can be done with it.
Everytime you look at porn a devil gets their horns.
Only if it'll get me fired if I screw up or killed.
Expensive hardware comes in at work? Yeah, I'll read the instructions (I don't do that type of stuff much though).
New gun? Yep, read the instructions. Unless I already have one just like it.
I might read the instructions for expensive/irreplacable items, as well. Unless I don't own them.
c.
Log in or piss off.
I read instructions for nearly everything I buy while I'm on the can. The time required is usually enough to scan for anything important or interesting. The technical specs are almost always interesting, and sometimes I miss a feature that is not obvious in the product (think cell phones).
> When do you read the instructions?
What's wrong with Ask Slashdot? Here's yet another example of a question that can be easily answered using Google.
when the object has caught fire.
...research on the internet, in magazines and also pestering friends who own one, so you're an expert before buying said item?
Got me right off the bat. I don't buy often, I only buy what I know will work, and I have a full and complete understanding of what I'm buying before I do.
Guess I'm a late adopter.
[signature]
I've tried, but you can't follow them. Betweem being written in some language that doesn't exist. Sure it looks like English, but even in the most slang versions English doesn't allow the grammar used. As a native English speaker I'm often unable to figure out what is intended.
That above assumes that the step is there. In most cases the instructions go from step 4 to step 6 without any indication. (that is the numbers are 1,2,3,4,5,6..., but there is a step 4.5) Often I notice this because I can figure out step 4 myself, and I know I need to get to step 6, but I'm not sure how to get there.
When stuff is broken, attitude being why should I spend my time figuring something out, if its written, in big red letters, "Don't press the big red button."
/.!
The other reason is for non-consumer level gear. A Linksys router I would fully expect to be plug and play. A high-end Cisco router? perhaps not.
A 3rd party microcontroller dev-kit? I had to look up the datasheet for the power regulator they used to find out what kind of power it wanted. At which point there aren't as many manuals written at which point its not really an answer.
take that,
Instructions should be read first, or not at all. Anything else is admitting defeat.
There are only two things in this world that smell like fish. And one of them's fish...
Manuals? What manuals? I use a Mac, our software is always so well designed that it doesn't need manuals.
When all else fails...
"Oh drat these computers, they're so naughty and so complex, I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian
Like that piece of paper that comes in the box of condoms telling you which is the business end?
When do I RTFM? I'd say the informal rule I use is 1) when what I'm getting into is unlike anything I've done before and the cost (typically) of failure is catastrophic, or 2) if I'm really stuck.
What's a good example of the first? I'm not sure, since I don't typically read the manual. I would suppose when I installed Gentoo the first couple of times I read the manual. Now, I just use a checklist. Originally, building a system like that was totally unfamiliar and I was really stuck.
When I was a kid, and computers were made of rocks and bits of straw, I tended to have access to games that didn't have manuals. So, I had to learn how the interface worked literally by pressing every key. It was more fun that way.
I agree with the comment of another. Modern consumer electronics should be intuitive enough not to require a complex manual, or there should be an "idiot" option that takes the consumer by the hand and drags them through the process and tells them what every little thing does. Sort of like tutorial mode on CivII.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
Like most people here I RTFM as a last resort.
My new table saw? yeah, I read the directions. A portable radio? no.
to deterimine if I supposed to install the CD/software or hardware first.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
I'm always reading as much as I can as early as I
can. This has saved me a lot of hassle (e.g. I
never bought a "copy"-protected CD because it was
lacking the "CD Digital Audio" logo).
Of course, everyone else I know is even too lazy
to read the quickstart guide or the less-than-1K
BSD licence throughoutly.
My Karma isn't excellent, damn it! (And
Last night I installed a new faucet and sprayer in the kitchen sink, and then went over and replaced the sink and faucet in the bathroom. You bet your ass I used the instructions (although the bathroom instructions were horribly incomplete). Most other projects (new chainsaw was the last one) I do use the instructions the first time. Messing around on my Mac; don't bother with them.
Figured I'd share this one, since it's relevant to the topic at hand.
:-)
I just bought myself a new digital camcorder, all the bells and whistles, natch. So I record a few friends and I outing to buy an XMas tree, and a few other things. So often, especially with complex equipment, how to do something is not always immediately clear;
Want to turn on night-mode or light assist? Oh, you need to switch the camera to program mode, go into the menu and select the moon icon.
Want to take still pictures? Move the dongle to the top, and press the record button. Cant do that? Oh yeah, we ship you a card full of sample images so you have to erase it first.
You want to erase it? Just flip the dongle back to the bottom, choose picture review, and then format card.
Now, its time to transfer the video off. Well, the camera has USB2.0 and FireWire (dv) output, but only includes the USB cable. Well, no matter, my mac's in the shop anyhow. So I plug in the USB cable to a windows box I found collecting dust, since I couldnt find USB drivers for the camera in linux.
So when I plug the camera in, windows just stares at me. I read through the quick start manual, and it says flip to "picture" mode instead of "movie" mode. Seems odd to me, but whatever.
So I flip it, and the software comes up, and says pick some pictures to download. Sure enough, lots of sample images, but no mention of getting my movie off.
So I go back to the manual.
And then, several hours of reading it later (could they have cut the esperanto section and included an index PLEASE???) I find a small one line comment hidden at the bottom of the page that discusses hooking my camera up to ANOTHER CAMERA.
That note?
"You will need to purchase a seperate DV cable to transfer video from the camera"
So yeah, I play first, and then read the manual, and then post on slashdot how shitty the manuals are
-- (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
If I get home and don't have to poop, I don't read the instructions until if/when I hit a roadblock. If I do have to poop, the the manual may be used as bathroom reading material.
I'm thinking I should have gone anonymous with this one.. *shrugs*
Thank you. Drive through. (:wq)
I rarely look properly at the instructions unless something either breaks or I can't figure out how to use a certain function. But there are a few exceptions.
Tiggs
"120 chars should be enough for everyone..."
I usually read the instructions while the battery is charging and I can't do anything with the device, but am too interested in the device to wait.
Welcome to the land of the free...pay toll ahead...no photography...please open your bag...
Read the F!@#ing Manual!
i read the manual when....
the device is unlike anything i have had before.
if i have time before i use the device (as a passneger on the way home from the store, on the can, etc.)
need to find a techinal spec (moniter refresh rates, etc.)
need a password/etc. (wireless router)
if the item is a new game, i'll look through the controls/storyline/weapons list, etc, while the game is installing.
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
Instructions, as in a manual of some kind? I would gladly read them if I could, but the manual always seems to be missing. I think David Pogue might have something to do with that.
Anakin Simpson: If you're not with me, then you're my enemy--ooh, donuts!
i never read instructions that are included with anything. As an example why, my gf's dad (i live with my gf's family) bought a wireless+wired belkin router.
I waited in his computer room while he had set it up like he asked, incase he had problems. After 20 mins of following the instructions and installing software (why software with a router connected by ethernet??) exactly like the manual said, I had a go. I thought sod the instructions (he was following them perfectly because we both agreed on what everything meant).
I set it up just like connecting any p2p LAN, and hellfire - it worked in 2 minutes. (all i needed from the manual was the ip address/username/password of the router so i could configure it.
Instructions are evil. Have you ever tried assembling furnature (like a bookshelf or something) following instruction (if theyre even in english)?
I read the instructions when it's mission-critical, when I'm completely new to it (first time DB install EVER, for example,) or when my brain's fried, and I care more about making it work than tweaking the hell out of the internals.
Or, of course, if I can't figure out how the hell it turns from jet to robot and back.
Raptor
"Procrastination is great. It gives me a lot more time to do things that I'm never going to do."
If the product is actually something that might not be intuitive [read: "enterprise" software] or amusing [read: RPG/strategy game] I'll generally skim through the manual while the product is installing.
I mean, there's nothing else to do then...
Instructions should be read before.
I swear it takes too long.
So I read them afterwards instead
To see where I went wrong.
I have discovered a truly marvelous sig, unfortunately the sig limit is too small to contain i
By the time I've found the section in the manual that's in my language, I could have fiddled with the thing long enough to have fixed the problem. I think my record is 20 languages in one manual.
Baz
Perhaps if they put pictures of naked women in the EULA people might read it ("just for the articles," of course).
Then again, they might never get past the EULA in which case they wouldn't be violating it, would they?
"By reading this agreement you automatically consent to be bound by its terms."
Give me my freedom, and I'll take care of my own security, thank you.
...look at quickstart guide when it's not obvious how to turn it on? Most things are simple, only time I look at the directions are when it has "insert slot A into slot A1 to slot B1 before inserting into slot C3 but after inserting into slot A2."
It saves trouble later to at least scan the instructions. That way, if something goes wrong, I know my way around the manuals and can find things quickly.
It's good to use your head, but not as a battering ram.
one of my ex's had an old mazda with a button on the gear select where Overdrive usually is. i pushed this button once while driving it, and the gas/brake/steering all locked up on me. how scary! apparently, as i found out after reading the manual, this button locks things up as an anti-theft mode for when your car is parked. there was no explanation as to why this button has an effect while you're driving. i now call this the "crash button".
You call it excessive, I call it ambitious.
Usually I only read the instructions before sending something for warranty service so I know what not to admit to having done.
I considered buying one of those. Not that I'm in particular doubt of anything but I thought they might be funny to have. And a way to support them.
But when I'd read them, I don't know!? When I got them I might read the introduction.