Learning from other people's manuals

["Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Karen Field <<... [finds] I learn a great deal from reading
software manuals for various products.>>

As did I. It's amazing what you can learn when you pay attention
while you're reading, ask yourself "what did I dislike about this and
why?", then figure out how to fix it. The less familiar the product,
the more you'll learn to think like a real user... because you are
one.

<<Actually, it's my weekend reading; I lead a very boring life.>>

Perhaps you need to add one of those "Having a Life for Dummies"
manuals to your weekend reading? <gdrlh>

<<Would anyone know how to get hold of manuals, short of buying the
software itself?>>

I'd be very surprised if you couldn't write to the companies that
interest you and ask to purchase a copy of the manuals for the
_previous_ version of the software. Though I'm sure some will
try to charge you Cadillac prices, others might just send you the old
inventory for free to save on inventory costs or to avoid having to
throw the stuff out. Another thought would be to contact your local
STC chapter (phone 703-522-4114 for details, or check out their web
site at www.stc-va.org to find one) and offer to participate in their
annual publications competition. That's also an excellent networking
opportunity and a way to find compatible people who also read manuals
on weekends. <g> Finally, check out garage sales and the clearance
racks at computer superstores; you'll find lots of junk you can cart
away for next to nothing.

One final thought: If you're interested in building a set of tools
and skills, and not just reading manuals, it might repay your
investment if you actually buy useful software. Most companies offer
trade-up or competitive upgrade offers that let you buy their
software for as little as $100 and sometimes even less if you own a
competing product. That's particularly true if you buy older versions
of the software. (For example, I upgraded to MSWord 6 from AmiPro 3
for about $60 Can. a few years back, when Word95 was the standard; I
also spent about $100 Can. for the full WordPerfect?Corel suite for
Macintosh.) Having the software lets you both play with the tools
(i.e., acquire new skills) and evaluate the manuals interactively
(i.e., determine how well they support your learning). Worth a
thought?
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"By God, for a moment there it all made sense!"--Anon.

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