RTFM. Do you?

[Valvebounce]

Hi Folks.
Just for giggles and to save hijacking someone else's post, do you RTFM, and what drove you to it?
I first resorted to RTFM as a child many years ago when I was trying to build a Technical Lego tractor from the picture on the front of the box! It hadn't gone too well, not as simple as it was to build the standard Lego cars and such just from the box image!
Technical Lego was new then, before it was called Lego Technics!
Since then I have tended to Read The Flamin' Manual first for most stuff.

Cheers, Graham.

 

[Marsu42]

Just for giggles and to save hijacking someone else's post, do you RTFM, and what drove you to it?

Usually I fiddle with all options until the thing doesn't work anymore, then rtfm

Somewhere, I've read that men tend to test the result of all switches and never bother reading what they do, while women tend to actually get informed before touching anything. Don't know if this is true though, and in any case it'll vary a lot across ages, generations and cultures.

 

[jdramirez]

I don't dislike manuals, but there are diminishing returns. The stuff I already know doesn't help me... Then there are features I don't understand and reading the manual is like reading Greek. So I'm really in the butter zone of knowing enough, but not nearly enough.

 

[tolusina]

For many items and for sure cameras, I download and read the manual, find out what the device can do and how do do it as part of my purchasing decision.
Many things explained in a manual make little sense unless and until the device is in hand, no matter, once the device is in hand I'm already familiar enough with the manual to find answers easily.

Pre-familiarization often gives additional clues as to a device's shortcomings prior to purchase, more shopping time can then be spent seeking solutions.

Truth, naw, I rarely read them completely. :-[

 

[Old Sarge]

Even though I usually d/l the manual before purchase, if possible, I still don't RTFM. It is more of S(can)TFM. Then I will use the camera (or whatever) until I don't remember how to do something and return to the manual at that time. Probably not the best way to handle things, but at my age I'm pretty well set in my ways.

 

[CurtL5]

Depends...

I scan through the how-to of some pieces but usually I start pushing buttons. I will admit though, that I made a point for the first year after receiving my 5Dmiii, to go back every month or so and RTFM a different part. I actually found it allowed me to modify a process for the better or take advantage of one of the zillion seldom-used functions I wasn't aware of or didn't use adequately.

Over-all, I'm a button pusher tho' ...

 

[AcutancePhotography]

When I am considering a new camera, one of the things I like is being able to download the manual. I often find that reading the manual gives me insight into whether the camera will be right for me.

So in this context, I read the manual even before I buy the camera. ;D

 

[eli452]

If every thing else fails read the instructions!

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

When I order a camera, I read the manual while I'm waiting for the camera to arrive. I also use the acrobat search function to look for information in the manual. Frequently at first.

 

[tayassu]

Im one of the guys that try out the camera and set it up with their common Canon Menu knowledge, and when they see something they don't know, they look into the manual...

 

[IgotGASbadDude]

If I purchase something that has been out for a while, I'll go to the manual only when I can't figure it out on my own.

If I "pre-order" something I'm ecstatic when the manual gets posted. Reading the manual helps pass the time until I can actually get the item in my hand. 8)

 

[DominoDude]

Hey, I even read manuals for things I don't own, so I guess that puts me in the first category. However, some types of manuals have become less useful and intuitive. If I can, I read the manual in English, even if it exists in Swedish; the translators are so lousy at times that they make me want to rip my eyes out. When translators lacks the proper technical understanding, or the correct terms and phrases to use for a given item, then they are not explaining or defining in a way that increases the readers knowledge. Machine translations can also make me go over the top...

I've even proofread an English game site, and corrected bad Inglese contributed by Americans and English(wo)men, so the native speakers are not always the best at handling their own language.

With all that said, with a good and thoroughly written manual the obstacles of handling new material are lessened and knowledge is gained. (Fully aware that some types of people learn better by hands on experience, or by listening during lessons held by a teacher/instructor/educator of sorts, but for me, the primary way of getting an improved knowledge goes through well written documentation.)

All this goes out the window when I instruct martial arts. Then it is visual, oral and tactile feedback, from which pupils will have to learn, in combination with numerous repetitions.

 

[davidcl0nel]

When I order a camera, I read the manual while I'm waiting for the camera to arrive. I also use the acrobat search function to look for information in the manual. Frequently at first.

Me, too.
Did it with 60D, my first DSLR - and could use it on the first minute as it arrived...
About 1 year later I bought the 5D3 and again, I read the new chapters, here the chapter for the AF module. And again, I could use the camera correctly from the first minute....

 

[AcutancePhotography]

I wonder how many people don't read the manual and then complain about what the camera can't do or does poorly? ;D

 

[Marsu42]

I wonder how many people don't read the manual and then complain about what the camera can't do or does poorly? ;D

I'd really like to know the actual number, but I guess it's very high - the very reason manufacturers and esp. Canon are that conservative with new software features and would never adopt advanced features like ML has. The amount of work and bad viral press ("crappy camera ain't working") would be too huge to compensate for the amount of customers won.

 

[Maximilian]

Hi Folks.
do you RTFM, and what drove you to it?
...
Cheers, Graham.

Hi Graham!

RTFM is one of my most beloved abbreviations.
Although I really try to avoid saying it to someone I really often think it, reading some peoples questions.
So feeling that way it would be a shame not to act like that. That's my stimulus.
So mostly I try out what can be done intuitively, look at the "Getting started" and then have a nice RTFM bedtime reading.

Yours,
Maximilian

 

[noisejammer]

Those who play first, curse later - have you ever tried to set up a 1-series without rtfm...

 

[DJD]

The truth is, I usually read the manual before I buy the product. It is part of my pre-purchase research. I like to know what the product really does, rather than relying on what some reviewer (or forum commenter) thinks the product does or should do.

 

[Pookie]

Although I have a new profile now... a few years ago I got chastised by the mods here on CR for telling someone in a joking manner to RTFM. Wonder how this thread is kosher now?

Honestly, 95% of the questions here on this forum could be answered with RTFM... but that would be too easy, better go ask the "internet" rather than pull out the hard copy.

 

[dcm]

Missing option: I usually skip the marketing literature and skim the manual before I buy so I know what I'm really getting - helps to minimize surprises and lets me study anything that I haven't encountered before. It usually one of the last things I do before I purchase, just to be sure. After that I only crack it open if I can't figure it out by playing or need some nitty gritty technical detail. I do keep a copy of key manual pdfs on my phone, tablet, and desktop to refer to, just in case. I seem to use them more to lookup stuff for other folks than for myself. Good products usually don't require much use of the reference material. But I'm an engineer building software products for the past 35 years so my expectations may be a bit different than others.