Bill your eloquent Rant is a tad on the long side...
And I have a feeling your current knowledge base is somewhat "long in the tooth".

This a polite Wake Up Call so please wake up Bill and smell the Caffeine which is a naturally occurring central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class and is the most widely taken psychoactive stimulant globally. (sorry for the "Pharmacological" tech) but I'm currently tutoring an RN heading back college to get her NP license in Maryland. Yep, I majored in Chemistry at the U of MD.

Might I suggest you look seriously at the current iteration of TikTok which is likely the best solution for those with a limited attention span (i.e. the masses)...

If you are naive here TikTok is a popular social media app that allows users to create, watch, and share 15-second videos shot on mobile devices and/or webcams. With its personalized feeds of quirky short videos set to music and sound effects, the app is notable for its addictive quality and high levels of engagement.

Oh, it works fabulously Bill... albeit I can't share who some of the most notable and notorious public figure users are since the UHH Admin will remove my post, so just use your imagination here

btw Bill this is a photography site, maybe post images relevant to your Rant? Sound like a Plan?
Here's my visualization of TikTok...

What I've noticed is how little camera manuals ever actually change. They have the same usage examples, the same usage example images. Typically, especially for Canon and Nikon, the only portion of the manual that is updated for new manuals is new functionality. Reading one and understanding the content means you've read about 90% of every manual for that brand of camera. Alas, for manual failures like Sony, reading one in full leaves you unsure of roughly 90% of the camera functionality.

Speaking of keeping up with technology, I question your quote, "a little reading won't kill you". As you know, instruction manuals, written by the camera company employees, are NOT the easiest to understand or follow.
That's why I use the latest technology, google, to teach me how to get the best out of my gear. On google I can get 20-50 Utube video's from folks on how to get the best out of my gear. I hardly ever read any instructions on the camera besides the first few pages QUICK GUIDE OR QUICK SET UP. From there I go the Utube for the rest of my instructions.
When I want to put a new cabin filter in my car, I go to Utube.
When I want to install new windows in our cabin, I go to Utube.
For most of my instructions, I go to uTube.

I have been reading the manual for years; occasionally I wonder what third grader wrote the jiberish while on coffee break from making hammers. Over the years manuals seem to have gotten less helpful.

I have been a pc user for decades and a few years ago we got a macbook pro for my wife who relied on me to know how to use it. It took a long time to get up to speed. It sits idle for months and and the learn curve starts over when pln for travel and travel. We get by; but once home I am back on the desktop.

That's nowadays, for sure.
When Canada was doing their switch to Celsius temp readings, how many settled-in citizens had already changed from their old °F only thermometers to dual reading ones?

I can recall seeing customers in grocery stores there around that time, and earlier, standing and looking in bewilderment at a food or beverage container, trying to figure out how much was in the package. At that time, in the early days of their metric labels, from some producers, the metric info was a noticeably larger size print (font?) than the old familiar imperial info, and drew the eye more than the familiar imperial label.

Taking responsibility for what we buy and use is, apparently, a controversial concept. Over the ten years or so I've been on UHH, and the 50 years of my "aware" life before that, I've noticed that a large number of people seem to gloss over the fact that technology is complex. They buy things that they think they want, but they don't do their research in advance, to be sure that THEY and their new devices, are compatible with what they want to do. They yank them out of the box, plug them in, turn them on, and get disappointed.

"Ready? FIRE!! (Uh, Aim, maybe? You just took out the neighbor's flower pot…)"

We're living in an age where our technical tools are not like hammers and screwdrivers, which are easily mastered by third graders. When you buy a hammer or screwdriver, it doesn't come with a manual, because it doesn't need one. It has a fairly singular purpose and a well-known and understood method of use. But technical gear — cameras, audio, video, computers, and cars — is different. These and many other tools and toys require serious consideration before buying, and serious study before use… IF we are going to get our money's worth from them.

Those of us who write user guides and technical manuals for products and software are usually the first to test the usability and viability of the product. If even the smallest detail doesn't work for us, we explain the issues we find to the product development team AND their directors. Making operation EASY for the customer IS HARD WORK for developers, engineers, and product design staff. It's just as difficult for trainers and training content developers.

One of the unfortunate assumptions companies make about their products is that customers WILL READ the documentation that explains proper use and care. Yet surveys have shown that up to 78% of customers never read it. Many users don't want anything to do with an 830+ page camera manual, or even any sort of a 20 page "Quick Start" guide.

I get all of that, but I also know from hiring many people in a photo lab — and from training school portrait photographers, office staff, and sales people — that understanding and mastering technology requires some quality time, focus, and a certain level of detail orientation. Patience with the documentation and with the entire learning process is usually rewarded with great results and long, trouble-free product life.

There is an old acronym that floated around the Internet BEFORE 1993, when the World Wide Web was born: 'R.T.F.M.' When users got stuck, and posted questions on a bulletin board forum for the tech support staff, the POLITE response was often, "Well, did you read the manual?" Soon enough, that got shortened to the acronym.

"Read The *Fine* Manual!" is the polite version of the acronym. After the tenth or eleventh call from the same user, with the same question, the tech support person would hang up the phone after a call, and yell into a paper bag, substituting whatever 'F' word suited his/her mood.

So here's my simple request to the universe of tech purchasers. Please read the documentation that comes with your purchase, or that you can download from the manufacturer's website at no additional cost. You will learn things you can do with your device that you never thought possible. You will avoid pitfalls that cause 80% of the issues people have with their devices. You will get more done, in less time, with better outcomes! You will trust the maker of the product more, because you understand what they do and don't expect you to do with their devices.

ESPECIALLY if you have used another brand of product in the same class, you need to read the manual just to UNLEARN how your old device of another brand worked. Don't expect brand L to work like brand N. Don't expect brand F to work like brand T. Terminology may be different, control placement may be different, and the way some of the functions work almost certainly will be different.

Don't try to make a Ford drive like a Toyota. It will just annoy you. Don't try to make a Windows PC work like a Mac. It will just frustrate you. They are different brands with different design philosophies and result from different ways of thinking about the same tasks. Take them for what they ARE, not for what they are not.

A little reading won't kill you. Operation may not be obvious, even when you think it should be. There's a reason for everything, and you need to know what it is, if you are going to get along with your new device. Read the freaking manual, and get your money's worth.