I spend about 10 hours a day reading and have yet to read a
software manual for any of the 50 apps I have on my computer.
They don't make sense to me and they insist on putting too
much stupid stuff in there like disclaimers and marketing
hyperbole. What good is that after you've already bought
the software?

Personally, I read the more sensible "Quick Start" guides
and then only skim those to get the key points. The way I
use the software is usually different than that envisioned
by the designers and even other users, so it really only
makes sense to look up stuff when troubleshooting.

If I read the manual for my digital watch, my cell phone,
my two-line digital cordless phone, my PDA, my printer and
my ebook, I'd never use them for lack of time. What do I
need to know more about my software for if it is serving
it's purpose? What I need is for everything to be a hosted
app on the web and universally accessible wirelessly with
built-in voice recognition troubleshooting software.

That way I could just say "Diagnose error" and it would
fix itself. I don't care HOW it works, just THAT it work.
If it isn't relevant to me, it isn't relevant.

Why do you think the trend is toward sytsem on a chip (SoC)?
Have you ever read the owners manual for your car? If you
have. Did you learn anything? Did it make you a better
driver? No need to read marketing hyperbole or disclaimers,
I just want it to work. When it breaks, I don't want to
learn why, just fix it please. I won't buy another one of
those because it breaks too often.

I think only help-desk personnel, who would rather be
hacking the Pentagon and technical writers are upset that
they aren't writing best selling novels. They don't get
paid as well for hacking and nobody reads the work of
technical tomes of the unfulfilled writers. At least they
are both being paid to do something.

In the early days of photography only scientists could be
photographers because they needed to know how to obtain
and mix the chemistry, apply the emulsion to glass plates,
develop those plates and do that entire process again when
transferring negative image the to paper. Are we any less
well-off now that cameras are disposable and we can see
our film in an hour without going into a dark room even
once to do it?

My wife is ready to throw away her new $1000 computer
because it won't accept the password when logging on to
the ISP. There is a real disconnect between the problems
and the source here. That is usually the case when things
get so complex. Reading manuals won't help.

I look forward to the day when the software designers
realize that the users don't care how they created that
amazing software and that as long as it will do what they
bought it for without fuss, it will be popular and well-
liked by the buying public. If it takes a day of reading,
I'll go buy something that works without study instead.

Is your VCR clock still blinking? If not, I bet you still
end up seeing the "blue screen of death" as often as I do.

About the Author

Mike Banks Valentine
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