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Consumer electronics live and die by the out-of-the-box experience. People return items they can't get to work. I'll never forget buying an answering machine that came with a half-hour-long recording of the previous purchasers trying to set it up. It was working the whole time, but they'd thrown it into some strange mode where it recorded local sound, not caller messages. Quite an education in consumer behavior, and in not burdening a device with modes and features that are rarely used.
At my last company we spent several weeks trying to get our folding sheet to convey the basic directions for connecting a set top box to a TV and a computer. Intrinsically tricky, and we had to convey lots of options. We finally tested the directions with some civilians, and had to redo everything. We also added an animation or video (I forget which) that plays when you power up the device, and tries to convey some of the same informatoin.
The Sony Bloggie videocamera I am reviewing comes with a couple of unmissable stickers with drawings that indicate how to get started. The manual is a teeny folded sheet with verbal versions of what's on the stickers and directions for downloading the full manual. The mandatory safey information is bulkier than the getting started sheet.
Shows something about what Sony expects from some of its customers.
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