Why Won't We Read the Manual?

["Steve Arrants" <stephena -at- compbear -dot- com>]

These articles seem to come like clockwork...used to be once a year, now
more often.  The latest is from Sunday's Washington Post (5/26/02).

Here are some excerpts.....the full article is at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8275-2002May25.html

Why Won't We Read the Manual?
Stupid Question, Perhaps, but Manufacturers Have Heard Stupider
By Caroline E. Mayer
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 26, 2002; Page H01
"It's an old joke, but a spokesman for Gateway swears it's true -- that the
computer maker's technical help line once got a call from a new purchaser
complaining that her teacup kept slipping out of the computer's cup holder.
"The reason, of course: The "cup holder" was the tray that slides out to
hold a CD-ROM.
"And so it has come to this: Americans buy the most sophisticated computers,
the coolest digital cameras, the most advanced automobiles, the most
versatile cell phones and handheld organizers, and then . . . and then we
forget, or decline, or flat out refuse, to read the directions. Owner's
manuals, care guides, how-to directories? No, thanks.
"There are lots of theories about why, but one thing is certain: The
situation is driving manufacturers nuts -- and costing them, and eventually
all of us, money."
[...]
""Nobody's reading manuals because they are horribly written," said consumer
consultant Tom Connellan, a customer-loyalty expert. Often written by the
engineers who designed the product and bylawyers for the manufacturer, the
manuals are usually not written with the consumer in mind, he added. And if
the product is made abroad, there's a good chance some of the manual is an
incomprehensible translation from a foreign language."

There's more...sigh...


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