I miss manuals...

Hello!

I don't know if I'm the only one out there who feels this way, but I
sure miss getting manuals with my software & hardware like you used to
in the "good old days" of computing. Software was still expansive to me
in the 80's, especially since I was a kid and had to spend forever
convincing my parents how we really "needed" that new word processor or
printer, etc..but at least when you spent the money you actually got
something in the box besides the disk. You could always judge how good
a word processor was going to be by the size of it's manual as in, "Wow
this manual is huge..I bet this program does a lot of crap that I'll
never even figure out how to do!!" Kind of made you feel like it was
money well spent!! Hell, I recently picked up an old Panasonic 24 pin
dot matrix printer and I couldn't believe how in depth the manual was..
it even had a chapter on designing your own fonts and uploading them
into the printer, had little graphs to xerox so you could design the
typeface..too cool!!!! I also remember how cool it was to open the box
and find that the manual was spiral bound so you could actually lay it
on the desk next to your computer and read while you worked on the
keyboard without having to wedge it open between heavy books..yeah,
spiral bound was top notch..probably why I love Compute! books so much.
Now I spend way over $100 on a piece of software and it comes with
documentation on the disk in a pdf format...what the hell does that
mean? I find it hard to believe that back in the 80's I got a great
spiral bound manual with "Fleet system 3" or "Paperclip" but mighty
Microsoft can't package anything with "Office"??????

Yeah, I miss manuals.

Douglas

:)
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: I miss manuals...
    ... etc..but at least when you spent the money you actually got ... it even had a chapter on designing your own fonts and uploading them ... spiral bound was top notch..probably why I love Compute! ... Yeah, I miss manuals. ...
    (comp.sys.cbm)
  • Re: Lets Face It, All Consoles Really Suck Now
    ... The days when manuals were thick ... Leisure Suit Larry? ... What the HELL are you talking about? ...
    (alt.games.video.xbox)
  • Re: Lets Face It, All Consoles Really Suck Now
    ... The days when manuals were thick ... Leisure Suit Larry? ... What the HELL are you talking about? ...
    (alt.games.video.xbox)
  • Re: Rich Grise
    ... > now designing. ... > hate to write manuals, so it's just as well I do it before, otherwise ... The PowersThatBe want me to use Word, ... > afternoon open homes and pick some blackberries. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Rich Grise
    ... >>> now designing. ... >>> hate to write manuals, so it's just as well I do it before, otherwise ... The PowersThatBe want me to use Word, ... Since I'm the Chief Engineer and the President and the Chairman ...
    (sci.electronics.design)