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altivoWhat is it with manufacturers now that they think no documentation is needed for stuff?
I've spent hours in the last week trying to puzzle out the requirements to match air compressors with air brushes for art work. None of them, compressors or air brushes, give even a range of optimal requirements. You have to guess.
I bought Gary a new, larger MP3 player (with video and radio playback features he doesn't want because that's all you can get now) as a Christmas gift. First he couldn't use it because it needed the battery charged. So we did that. Now he can't use it because it is controlled by touchpad gestures and he's used to pressing buttons. No manual is provided. Just a flimsy sheet of paper that mostly consists of bad drawings. Have we become so illiterate now that no one can write a few clear sentences explaining functionality? Do engineers communicate in sign language now or what? If you want a "complete" manual you have to download it from the website. OK, did that. It consists of 58 pages, mostly incoherent babbling about how you can store thousands of "songs" on the device. Next to nothing about how to actually operate the damned thing.
This morning a library patron complained that she couldn't connect to the new wireless system. So I tried. I couldn't connect either, though the beacon signal was clearly detectable. Close examination revealed that the router was accepting connections, but no DHCP responses were being sent. Called the installer. He says: "Go in the mechanical room and unplug the blue box. Then plug it back in." This worked. But I have no idea why it was necessary or just what we were doing. This infuriates me, too.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I wrote technical documentation for a living. It's kind of a dull, exacting job, but certainly not so difficult that there's any excuse for just not doing it any more.
Good thing this is a short week.
I've spent hours in the last week trying to puzzle out the requirements to match air compressors with air brushes for art work. None of them, compressors or air brushes, give even a range of optimal requirements. You have to guess.
I bought Gary a new, larger MP3 player (with video and radio playback features he doesn't want because that's all you can get now) as a Christmas gift. First he couldn't use it because it needed the battery charged. So we did that. Now he can't use it because it is controlled by touchpad gestures and he's used to pressing buttons. No manual is provided. Just a flimsy sheet of paper that mostly consists of bad drawings. Have we become so illiterate now that no one can write a few clear sentences explaining functionality? Do engineers communicate in sign language now or what? If you want a "complete" manual you have to download it from the website. OK, did that. It consists of 58 pages, mostly incoherent babbling about how you can store thousands of "songs" on the device. Next to nothing about how to actually operate the damned thing.
This morning a library patron complained that she couldn't connect to the new wireless system. So I tried. I couldn't connect either, though the beacon signal was clearly detectable. Close examination revealed that the router was accepting connections, but no DHCP responses were being sent. Called the installer. He says: "Go in the mechanical room and unplug the blue box. Then plug it back in." This worked. But I have no idea why it was necessary or just what we were doing. This infuriates me, too.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, I wrote technical documentation for a living. It's kind of a dull, exacting job, but certainly not so difficult that there's any excuse for just not doing it any more.
Good thing this is a short week.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-28 09:05 pm (UTC)The wireless control switch is actually a good idea. It saves a lot of battery power (meaning longer battery life) if you turn off the wireless when you aren't going to be using it. Of course, most users never read any of the documentation and don't even know that the switch exists. My Asus has that function and I use it regularly.
The "blue box" actually is a cheap Linksys firewall, not the wireless router itself. This too is a distinction that would be wasted on most end users. To them, our wireless was "broken" but in fact the wireless router was working as it is configured to do.