tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post5745251683171840117..comments2024-03-22T23:27:47.349+00:00Comments on EAGLETON NOTES: Do You Read The Manual?Graham Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-67272947692350901932014-08-20T00:08:28.861+01:002014-08-20T00:08:28.861+01:00I always thought the manuals were just part of the...I always thought the manuals were just part of the packing material.<br />I love to fiddle faddle and make things work without referring to the manual...it's when I run into problems that I can be found looking through the packing materials....smile.VirginiaChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17282569773671179047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-12848887708723771842014-08-19T07:05:40.895+01:002014-08-19T07:05:40.895+01:00A while ago I decided that it would be fun to have...A while ago I decided that it would be fun to have an electronic microscope which attaches to the computer. I received one as a present and it has proved to be a hit with me. However when I read the comments on Amazon many of them gave it one star because it wouldn't focus properly when very close to the object being examined. One reviewer then explained that if one read the instructions it was very clear indeed how to focus it. The problem was that the focussing dial had to be rotated twice through it's scale which, of course, was counter-intuitive. If it hadn't been for that review I'd probably have been in the same situation. That might have been in my sub-conscious when I read the manual for the new micro-wave oven. Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-18606805620997707722014-08-19T06:57:26.879+01:002014-08-19T06:57:26.879+01:00Like you, VioletSky, I have two lever arch files o...Like you, VioletSky, I have two lever arch files of manuals for everything I've ever owned that came with a manual. There are only two boxes because I had a clear-out not long ago. Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-19606254424532654112014-08-19T06:54:22.370+01:002014-08-19T06:54:22.370+01:00I believe, Frances, that ticking the 'I've...I believe, Frances, that ticking the 'I've read the terms and conditions' box is regarded as the most universally told lie in the modern world. Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-89970568809700258712014-08-19T06:52:37.463+01:002014-08-19T06:52:37.463+01:00Oh DeeDee I fear that so many of us could save man...Oh DeeDee I fear that so many of us could save many an irritation if we read the manuals when we were supposed to.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-82522092674885282262014-08-18T12:01:55.800+01:002014-08-18T12:01:55.800+01:00I have a drawer full of manuals. I keep them all, ...I have a drawer full of manuals. I keep them all, including the French versions. Some are still in their hermetically sealed plastic coverings. Many are for electronics I no longer own and barely even remember owning. But the answer is No, I do not ever read any of them. Which is a shame, as I'm fairly certain my phones can do so many more tasks than I give them credit for,VioletSkyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10222821877918680480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-25384911249065371572014-08-18T10:20:46.316+01:002014-08-18T10:20:46.316+01:00Reading the manual is like reading the Terms and C...Reading the manual is like reading the Terms and Conditions. I tick the box, but don't bother. Actually, manuals now seem to come in 63 languages and even the English is incomprehensible.Frances Garroodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10614916006798375706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-56046812745387650722014-08-18T02:34:53.138+01:002014-08-18T02:34:53.138+01:00I do read the manual -- but usually not until I ge...I do read the manual -- but usually not until I get myself into a muddle. Mea culpa -- with the disasters to prove it. Canadian Chickadeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12995693884248628958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-32478769835405756452014-08-17T16:05:10.050+01:002014-08-17T16:05:10.050+01:00That's about where I stand in reality Mark.That's about where I stand in reality Mark.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-84519785587560836182014-08-17T16:04:30.191+01:002014-08-17T16:04:30.191+01:00One of the problems I have come across in a manual...One of the problems I have come across in a manual today, Monica, is not that I couldn't understand it: it's very well written. However it did not tell me the one very basic piece of information I needed: how to turn it on after a power cut (It has no on/off switch).Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-456286447053449122014-08-17T16:01:29.620+01:002014-08-17T16:01:29.620+01:00I agree with you about the IKEA manuals although I...I agree with you about the IKEA manuals although I find their excellent furniture pretty intuitive to assemble anyway. If you don't read the manual and get it wrong you are in trouble though. I too, used to write manuals of a sort (on, for example, how to apply for planning consent from a local authority). It's quite interesting because I frequently come across forms that need to be filled in and where the instructions are ambiguous. I used to try mine out on people (usually unwilling I have to say) first.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-28425146487004989042014-08-17T15:55:40.902+01:002014-08-17T15:55:40.902+01:00Adrian he was a darn sight funnier that his boss.Adrian he was a darn sight funnier that his boss.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-73028250997598379732014-08-17T15:55:10.465+01:002014-08-17T15:55:10.465+01:00PS Red. BBQ in New Zealand perhaps but rarely in ...PS Red. BBQ in New Zealand perhaps but rarely in Scotland. It's a summer's day today and the wind is around 40mph.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-3262125023189812362014-08-17T15:54:00.505+01:002014-08-17T15:54:00.505+01:00It's a good job, Red, that we don't have t...It's a good job, Red, that we don't have to translate manuals from English into Mandarin or many of the other 6,500 world languages. Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-38333460445686124092014-08-17T15:51:48.999+01:002014-08-17T15:51:48.999+01:00Very good Kay!Very good Kay!Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-919142223373796572014-08-17T15:51:30.612+01:002014-08-17T15:51:30.612+01:00Interestingly Mersad that doesn't surprise me....Interestingly Mersad that doesn't surprise me. I would aspire to that if I wasn't so..... Do you know I can't think of a reason nor of an excuse for why I often don't read the manual.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-16651324116569422412014-08-17T15:49:42.497+01:002014-08-17T15:49:42.497+01:00Andrea I have discovered that when all else fails ...Andrea I have discovered that when all else fails it's usually something for which I cannot find a manual anyway.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-36942397759297487642014-08-17T15:48:30.258+01:002014-08-17T15:48:30.258+01:00Why, YP, not perkinuals. One can't use person...Why, YP, not perkinuals. One can't use per<i>son</i> because of it's male connotations of course.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-40832457068556364832014-08-17T15:38:22.426+01:002014-08-17T15:38:22.426+01:00Thank you Carol. It's been good so far.Thank you Carol. It's been good so far.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-54668768312130778492014-08-17T15:35:30.743+01:002014-08-17T15:35:30.743+01:00The problem, Spesh, is when one is a man.The problem, Spesh, is when one <i>is</i> a man.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-70070178026297626132014-08-17T15:34:23.604+01:002014-08-17T15:34:23.604+01:00I think you are in the great majority Serenata.I think you are in the great majority Serenata.Graham Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11196744947133121475noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-31596848389479987502014-08-17T13:19:10.933+01:002014-08-17T13:19:10.933+01:00It's rare I'd read a manual thoroughly, al...It's rare I'd read a manual thoroughly, although I might scan a quick start section just to make sure I'm not doing something stupid. Having said that I'd never read a manual/label on a rug unless I was trying to see how to clean it. I'd certainly not look at it when it was brand new.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02418527698793489162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-22344228675591179182014-08-17T11:05:20.340+01:002014-08-17T11:05:20.340+01:00...and I had to make a spelling mistake in the wor......and I had to make a spelling mistake in the word "languages" of all...DawnTreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04533307672147117843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-31858371124999656402014-08-17T11:04:19.068+01:002014-08-17T11:04:19.068+01:00I do read manuals. Sometimes they're helpful -...I do read manuals. Sometimes they're helpful - sometimes the translations are so bad that they're confusing rather than clarifying things though. Often I'm glad I know three languags (Swedish, English and German) because perhaps at least one of them got it right...!DawnTreaderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04533307672147117843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6784891745623390957.post-4386428282716383152014-08-17T08:22:20.715+01:002014-08-17T08:22:20.715+01:00I write manuals. It is part of my job. Therefore, ...I write manuals. It is part of my job. Therefore, I have a professional interest in reading other people's manuals to see how good or bad they are written. A good manual is invaluable - a bad one can get the user so frustrated they'll never open another manual again.<br />The year I turned 40, I gave my bedroom a complete makeover, not keeping a single piece of furniture (all ugly hand-me-downs from the late 1980s and early 1990s). All my new furniture I assembled myself, only needing help with the large wardrobe doors because they were too heavy for me alone to hold in position. Without the instructions, it would have been a lot more difficult and taken a lot longer - but with the very good and clear IKEA manuals coming with each piece of furniture, it was fun!Librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05704656564078750607noreply@blogger.com