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.

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.

I just picked a "vintage" early 70's Sears [Chinon] M42 Mechanical 35mm SLR.

Manual focus, you set the shutter speed and aperture. You got feedback about whether the exposure combination was correct by STOPPING DOWN the lens to the taking aperture and noting if the needle in the finder was centered.

That's it. Oh, there was a self-timer.

To me, who started out with a similar camera, this was beautiful simplicity. But to a person who grew up on "programmed" exposure and never dealt with the basic relationships of shutter speeds/metering/apertures/ISO, this camera might be a mystery.

And you hand me a high end mirrorless with 100 settings and I would also have some trouble.

It all depends on what you learned.

I just picked a "vintage" early 70's Sears [Chinon] M42 Mechanical 35mm SLR.

Manual focus, you set the shutter speed and aperture. You got feedback about whether the exposure combination was correct by STOPPING DOWN the lens to the taking aperture and noting if the needle in the finder was centered.

That's it. Oh, there was a self-timer.

To me, who started out with a similar camera, this was beautiful simplicity. But to a person who grew up on "programmed" exposure and never dealt with the basic relationships of shutter speeds/metering/apertures/ISO, this camera might be a mystery.

And you hand me a high end mirrorless with 100 settings and I would also have some trouble.

It all depends on what you learned.

Mr. Burk, thank you for your comprehensive message about the frustrating tendency of people to ask that someone take their hand and lead them to the promise land. In part, I agree with your view. I always read the manual, yet I must point out that not every technical writer is cut from the same cloth. Many times, I read a manufacturing manual that is not quite as clear as it should be. This is especially true if the writer's original language is not English. I have a bookcase full of books I purchased because the manual that came with the product was useless. Of course, none of this frustration compares to companies outsourcing their customer support out of the country. I can't count the number of times I've reached someone who purportedly speaks English ... just not the English I speak.

I worked in Finance for Ford Motor Company before moving full time to Information Technologies. During the early 1990's, Ford finally completely consolidated accounting into one location, then started to off-shore customer support to India. The company spent a great deal of time and money training the Indians to understand Ford's Accounts Payable System, because it had the greatest amount of outside-the-company contact. The launch date came, and what ensued was a near-total disaster. Yes, the folks in India spoke very good English, except it was British English, and they had no clue about American English, its idiomatic phrases, etc. Support had to be repatriated until the Indians could be taught American dialectic English.

However, this has not carried over to other companies which have moved customer service off-shore. I still have problems with customer service folks who have such hard brogues, they are nearly incomprehensible.

Bilingual Mexicans would have been a better fit. They often learn English from American teachers, not Brits. I had an hispanic employee in the lab. She spoke impeccable Midwestern American English — as a second language. She was with us a year before I learned she was a naturalized citizen who had been in the San Diego area for ten years before her move to Charlotte.

Offshoring customer service functions never has made sense to me. It's like management saying, "We don't give a $#!t about our customers' problems, rights, or welfare." I get that it's expensive. But maybe it could be minimized if they made better products and wrote better manuals!

I spent four years on a project involving bringing Ford of Mexico into Ford North America. Until then, Mexico had been a secondary market when it came to engineering. They were at least three years behind North America. I spent at least one week per month in Mexico City, and I was amazed by the amount of U.S. English that was spoken in Mexico. My finance counterparts were fluent in English, as well as working knowledge of French, German, and Portuguese. It took me a while to pick up enough Spanish to function reasonably.

One of the things that impressed me was the historical knowledge of Mexico by the "average" Mexican. When I would have to spend a weekend there, my sponsors would take me to numerous, museums, art galleries, etc. One of the more impressive places was the pyramids outside Mexico City. Pyramid Del Sol, and Pyramid La Luna were very impressive, especially the precision with which the area was surveyed. At the nearby museum, elementary school children spent their Saturdays learning Mexican culture and history.