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I feel like I’m reading more manuals than ever. Libraries, CLI tools and other specialized software have well written and very useful docs. Same with pro camera

by thih9 4y ago

I feel like I’m reading more manuals than ever. Libraries, CLI tools and other specialized software have well written and very useful docs. Same with pro camera software, music gear software, and more. For “consumer” software I usually don’t need manuals, I can find what I need via poking; this often includes power user features (when I use something sufficiently often). Is it possible that what you’re feeling is nostalgia? Have you actually read the manual for your phone?

layer8 4y ago
> Have you actually read the manual for your phone? I have, and it’s abysmal, because it doesn’t make any attempt at explaining anything on a conceptual level, or even explaining basic UI elements. It doesn’t teach you how to interpret what you see on the screen. It does the bare minimum of enumerating the steps to activate a given feature, presuming that you are able to match those descriptions to what you see on the screen (there are barely any screenshots) and that you know why you would want to use that feature in the first place. It also doesn’t address any failure modes, and doesn’t discuss relevant considerations regarding the use of the given feature.
- thih9 4y ago
  I see your point better now, thanks for explaining. That makes sense. Then again, today’s smartphone operating systems are as popular as home appliances in the 90s. Maybe if we took something modern that is as niche as software in the 90s then it might come with a manual with a mental model too.
  - layer8 4y ago
    Home appliances also used to come with detailed and easy-to-understand manuals, and mostly don’t anymore. It’s mainly that manufacturers stopped caring, due to accelerated product cycles and globalization, because the products sell regardless.
    - thewebcount 4y ago
      I recently bought a new washing machine. It has a mode with an odd name that turns out to be tied to a cleaning product from another company. The manual doesn’t have any information on what the mode does or why it exists. The manual is a generic manual for like 5 or 10 models, and seems to only include the functions common to them all. Any function on a higher-end model that’s not included on the lower-end model is just not documented. I guess if you want to use those, you’re on your own. But of course, there’s a phone app you can download and give the company a bunch of personal information to connect your washer to your home network so you can get notification when it’s done with its cycle.
      - autoexec 4y ago
        Companies used to provide manuals that'd include part numbers and even schematics! Now they're developing products for themselves. No customer ever asked for a TV that plastered the screen with ads every time they adjusted the volume, or a lightbulb you need some shitty app to turn on and off, but now it seems everything comes with some kind of hidden monkey paw style gotcha attached to it.
    - thih9 4y ago
      What I'm trying to point out is the shift in complexity and similarities between the areas of the same complexity. Check this out: - 2020s appliances (throw away manuals) are like 90s hardware toolbox (throw away manuals) - 2020s smartphones (easy to understand manuals) are like 90s appliances (easy to understand manuals) - 2020s specialized tools (manuals with mental models) are like 90s computers (manuals with mental models)
- teddyh 4y ago
  There was a book series called “The Missing Manual – The book that should have been in the box®”: https://www.oreilly.com/search/?query=missing+manual&formats=book https://www.oreilly.com/search/?query=missing+manual&formats...
deleted 4y ago
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numpad0 4y ago
Those manuals from good old times came with introductions and basic training chapters. Manuals for music gear software don’t come with composition crash course, do they? In 80s and 90s they would have.

by thih9 4y ago

layer8 4y ago

> Have you actually read the manual for your phone? I have, and it’s abysmal, because it doesn’t make any attempt at explaining anything on a conceptual level, or even explaining basic UI elements. It doesn’t teach you how to interpret what you see on the screen. It does the bare minimum of enumerating the steps to activate a given feature, presuming that you are able to match those descriptions to what you see on the screen (there are barely any screenshots) and that you know why you would want to use that feature in the first place. It also doesn’t address any failure modes, and doesn’t discuss relevant considerations regarding the use of the given feature.

thih9 4y ago
I see your point better now, thanks for explaining. That makes sense. Then again, today’s smartphone operating systems are as popular as home appliances in the 90s. Maybe if we took something modern that is as niche as software in the 90s then it might come with a manual with a mental model too.
- layer8 4y ago
  Home appliances also used to come with detailed and easy-to-understand manuals, and mostly don’t anymore. It’s mainly that manufacturers stopped caring, due to accelerated product cycles and globalization, because the products sell regardless.
  - thewebcount 4y ago
    I recently bought a new washing machine. It has a mode with an odd name that turns out to be tied to a cleaning product from another company. The manual doesn’t have any information on what the mode does or why it exists. The manual is a generic manual for like 5 or 10 models, and seems to only include the functions common to them all. Any function on a higher-end model that’s not included on the lower-end model is just not documented. I guess if you want to use those, you’re on your own. But of course, there’s a phone app you can download and give the company a bunch of personal information to connect your washer to your home network so you can get notification when it’s done with its cycle.
    - autoexec 4y ago
      Companies used to provide manuals that'd include part numbers and even schematics! Now they're developing products for themselves. No customer ever asked for a TV that plastered the screen with ads every time they adjusted the volume, or a lightbulb you need some shitty app to turn on and off, but now it seems everything comes with some kind of hidden monkey paw style gotcha attached to it.
  - thih9 4y ago
    What I'm trying to point out is the shift in complexity and similarities between the areas of the same complexity. Check this out: - 2020s appliances (throw away manuals) are like 90s hardware toolbox (throw away manuals) - 2020s smartphones (easy to understand manuals) are like 90s appliances (easy to understand manuals) - 2020s specialized tools (manuals with mental models) are like 90s computers (manuals with mental models)
teddyh 4y ago
There was a book series called “The Missing Manual – The book that should have been in the box®”: https://www.oreilly.com/search/?query=missing+manual&formats=book https://www.oreilly.com/search/?query=missing+manual&formats...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

numpad0 4y ago

Those manuals from good old times came with introductions and basic training chapters. Manuals for music gear software don’t come with composition crash course, do they? In 80s and 90s they would have.