Are Insufficient Product Manuals the New Standard? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

I've been in this hobby for so long, I rarely even look much at the manual of a new product. The problem is, as some components get more complicated, it's necessary to consult them from time to time. Except that it seems they have even less useful information than they used to with simpler components. What I seem to be finding is they contain little to no practical information on how the component actually works.

I seem to recall that was a problem @John Dirk recently had when he bought (and returned) an Anthem AVM 70, and I'm finding it with both the music streamer/DACs I recently bought. They list connections and the names of functions, and so on, but don't explain anything. Even more surprising is the vast amount of features and necessary information that simply isn't there at all.

Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[John Dirk]

In Anthem's case, they employ the model of one shared manual for an entire family of products. While potentially acceptable for simpler items such as speakers, it doesn't work well for complex items such as AV processors or, yes, music streamers.

 

[JohnRice]

In Anthem's case, they employ the model of one shared manual for an entire family of products. While potentially acceptable for simpler items such as speakers, it doesn't work well for complex items such as AV processors or, yes, music streamers.

That really is absurd with something like a surround receiver or preamp.

 

[Desslar]

I think skimpy manuals have become common for many types of products. In some cases the information has moved online.

 

[bmasters9]

I think skimpy manuals have become common for many types of products. In some cases the information has moved online.

I know many video games have had that done-- that's probably why we have the "Guide Dang It" trope.

 

[Desslar]

I know many video games have had that done-- that's probably why we have the "Guide Dang It" trope.

I recently received a Chinese brand "smart" watch that appears to have maybe 50 or so functions, but the manual is all of 4 tiny pages, mostly about charging the battery. I'm left to my own devices to figure out what all the tiny icons stand for/do.

Thankfully if a product is common enough, someone has probably created a helpful Youtube video to walk you through the set up steps.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Increasingly rare companies like Nikon may well be the last holdout for offering more traditional, complete manuals me thinks (although I haven't seen their latest) -- and even their DSLR manuals were never quite as complete as I actually wanted.

I recently received a Chinese brand "smart" watch that appears to have maybe 50 or so functions, but the manual is all of 4 tiny pages, mostly about charging the battery. I'm left to my own devices to figure out what all the tiny icons stand for/do.

Thankfully if a product is common enough, someone has probably created a helpful Youtube video to walk you through the set up steps.

Yeah, some of those ultra-tiny-print "manuals"/guides I come across these days are truly annoying. Does anyone actually find them all readable? I don't mean some that are just tiny instead of ultra tiny, LOL. My eyes definitely ain't what they used to be (more than a decade-plus ago), but I don't recall ever having to read such ultra tiny print -- and I definitely used to be very comfy w/ fairly tiny fonts/prints and still often prefer smaller fonts/prints than most people, especially around my age (or older), LOL.

And yeah, they do all seem to be coming from Chinese companies, and I have no clue why (even though, yes, I'm Chinese)... other than maybe they do it mainly for style, not substance (nor actual readability) -- I doubt most of them are downsizing for the environment.

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

I'm fine with PDF manuals. In fact, they make a lot of sense, since they can be updated with firmware changes. Except... they never are, and they're still anemic, in my experience.

And yeah, they do all seem to be coming from Chinese companies, and I have no clue why (even though, yes, I'm Chinese)... other than maybe they do it mainly for style, not substance (nor actual readability) -- I doubt most of them are downsizing for the environment.

But Anthem seems to be as big an offender as any, and they certainly aren't a Chinese company.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Are Insufficient Product Manuals the New Standard?

Yes.

Bought a new gas grill last month. The store only had them pre-assembled, so it wound up being a non-issue, but my intent was to buy it new in the box and put it together myself. They still sent me home with the manual and after one look I realized there would have been no way I could have figured out proper assembly with the information provided.

Assembled a kiddie trampoline this morning. Ultimately it should have been simple - it was really a matter of unfolding the bouncing surface and screwing on some legs and extra nuts and bolts to hold it together but the instructions actually made it seem much more complex than it was.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

But Anthem seems to be as big an offender as any, and they certainly aren't a Chinese company.

Anthem's recent manuals/guides can't be that tiny (as that's what I was responding to about various Chinese CE companies), right?

The (often ultra) tiny print (on typically tiny manuals/guides) I'm talking about I've really only seen on BD/4K disc backcovers (which also often adds insult to injury by making them low contrast, LOL) outside of the various Chinese CE devices I come across -- well, maybe also the various covid rapid tests I get.

_Man_

 

[Chip_HT]

The problem I have with most assembling instructions is that they are completely picture based, but the pictures are either not clear enough or overly simplified to the point of not understanding the pieces.

Heck, my kid got a Transformers toy a few years ago that had instructions that were something like 37 steps to transform (not even attempting to exaggerate the number). I couldn't get past step 10 because I couldn't comprehend what part they were moving in the picture.

 

[John Dirk]

Anthem's recent manuals/guides can't be that tiny (as that's what I was responding to about various Chinese CE companies), right?


_Man_

Not "tiny" as in font used but tiny as in actual content.

I'd also be fine with [and actually prefer] an online manual. Anthem has them but they are identical to the print version, so of limited use. On the other hand, my AT screen did come with detailed assembly instructions as it is clear a product like this would have to.

 

[Desslar]

The problem I have with most assembling instructions is that they are completely picture based, but the pictures are either not clear enough or overly simplified to the point of not understanding the pieces.

Heck, my kid got a Transformers toy a few years ago that had instructions that were something like 37 steps to transform (not even attempting to exaggerate the number). I couldn't get past step 10 because I couldn't comprehend what part they were moving in the picture.

With Transformers I can guarantee there are a dozen Youtube tutorials out there.

But I agree with your point. Pictures are no use if you don't know what you are looking at. My favorite is when all the included parts are listed and labeled at the start of a manual, but in the assembly instruction pictures they don't label them! (or at least not comprehensively) So I'm stuck trying to compare these tiny images to figure out which screw goes where.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I never did find a pdf manual for my TCL 55S535. There's one for a previous year's model but there are differences in features.

I'm still impressed with the manual support for Dell PCs. They show you how to remove/replace all the interior parts.

 

[DaveF]

I think it’s the rise of software-controlled. Software manuals have never been sufficient. Look at the fortunes made on how-to books for Microsoft Office back in the ‘90s.

Look at the massive forum discussions explaining how to operate Audyssey, something that’s been in receivers for over a decade, and (to my understanding) the detailed operation and use of which has never been detailed by hardware vendors or the Audyssey company itself. Just left up to users to figure out.

And of course, there’s not been a “manual” for an iPhone ever, I don’t think. There’s a good deal of official helpful info online at the iPhone website. But there’s never been a giant box with a giant 500 page printed manual and the little phone.

But also: were tech manuals ever any good? This isn’t new to the past year, it’s been an issue for 10+ years with software. But going back 40 years to the ‘80s did Kenwood receivers come with robust manuals explaining how to press the power button or turn the volume knob?

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

^Forget the user manuals.... since even coding docs and business/functional specs have always been very dodgy, if we bothered to (quite that much) at all, LOL.

There's certainly been plenty of attempts and tried solutions to remedy such issues, but seems like nothing's ever really stuck quite that much in forms readily digestible or certainly well-maintained/updated enough for anyone other than the immediate programmers and maybe collaborating analysts w/in a few months (to maybe a year) of still being on the projects, etc, LOL.

I mean... that's in large part how XML (and other related/associated tech/solutions like auto-code and comment/spec/doc generation) became quite that much of a thing, but still...

We probably need AI (on top of linguistics integration, etc) to tackle this issue/aspect if nothing else... since nobody else (still) in the know (on whatever projects, etc) really wants to enough, LOL...

_Man_

 

[jcroy]

I think it’s the rise of software-controlled. Software manuals have never been sufficient. Look at the fortunes made on how-to books for Microsoft Office back in the ‘90s.

Going slightly further back in the time, UNIX / Linux based systems were very much like this too. Even reference documents and/or how-to books were wildly incomplete and/or very confusing.

Compounding this, was figuring out the C language intricacies which had to be known in order to do any programming that was non-trivial. The old gallows humor joke was that "C assumes the programmer knows what they are doing".

 

[Clinton McClure]

And of course, there’s not been a “manual” for an iPhone ever, I don’t think.

iPhone User Guide

Here’s everything you need to know about iPhone, straight from Apple. This definitive guide helps you get started using iPhone and discover all the amazing things it can do.

support.apple.com

 

[John Dirk]

I think it’s the rise of software-controlled. Software manuals have never been sufficient. Look at the fortunes made on how-to books for Microsoft Office back in the ‘90s.

IMO, it's forgivable in this class of product since there's generally context sensitive help available within the app.

Look at the massive forum discussions explaining how to operate Audyssey, something that’s been in receivers for over a decade, and (to my understanding) the detailed operation and use of which has never been detailed by hardware vendors or the Audyssey company itself. Just left up to users to figure out.

Couldn't agree more. It's really cocky on their part, especially when competitors are doing the opposite.

But also: were tech manuals ever any good?

Again, I can forgive this to some extent since these products are typically intended for a select community, likely to be more savvy than the average consumer.

I don't know about Kenwood but I do remember the manual that came with our first Curtis Mathes TV set. They don't make TV sets or user manuals like that anymore