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Musings

goodbye manuals

I remember in 1986 when my parents bought the first VCR, papa spend 2 days going through its user manual to learn to program it to record the favorite tv show (i guess ramayana) automatically. (then we skipped the episode just to prove that the box can record even in absensia, which it did not due to power failure). These days I hardly see anybody going through the user manual, faq or reading any literature of any sort.
People just unwrap their gifts and expect it to work. If it does not work, they keep it aside for somebody else to pick it up and explain the merits (or stash it in their attic for eternity). Not sure is it because of better intuitive User Interface UI or is it because people are getting smarter or both. However I can say for sure they want to play with their gadget and understand it in the process rather than going through reams of literature to understand what all the product can do (after all I don’t think i use even 10% of the features of my phone/tablet… but who cares)
DIY kits are not very popular in India, but i wonder if people show the same kind of impatience that they show with electronics?