Do you read the instructions first?

Years ago there was this invention called the gas grill.

They came unassembled back then. My pop gave all 4 of his kids one for Christmas one year. Back then we gathered at his house on Christmas Eve.

My twin and I both set out to assemble ours that evening. He used the instructions. I looked at the pictures. It took us like 2 hours each. He finished first because using the step by step instructions made it so he has assembled his correctly.
I ran out of screw X but had plenty that were too short. And the correct screws had been used at like step 3 of 27. lol. So the required disassemble began. Ugh.

I was in my 20's back then. In my mid 50's now I read the instructions for even simple stuff. Trouble is often times things come with tiny little papers you need a magnifier to read.

I learned to read instructions in the 90's when performing maintenance of my automobiles. Things like unplugging the battery before working on anti-lock brakes or torquing the bolts on a water pump in the correct sequence ensured the project was completed like my brothers gas grill way back when...correctly.

I read instructions on paint cans, setting up a smart tv, recharging batteries etc.

Way back when I had a neighbor who never read instructions. I probably started so I wouldn't be like him. Example was when he'd go to fix his truck. He'd start at sunrise and end up using a table lamp long after dark while he'd bang on whatever the snag was with a hammer. It never failed. I'd see from my dining room that his truck jacked up as I drank my morning coffee. I'd ease two doors down and ask if he needed a hand. "Nah, I got this". By 4pm I knew it was just a matter of time before hearing hammering. And like water is wet, eventually "WHAM, WHAM (loud cussing, tool tossing and more) WHAM, WHAM".

Decades have passed and as I type this on a cloudy Sunday I ponder the now gray haired dude is attempting to swap a transmission on a late model Ford truck only to be smashing stuff with a hammer in a few hours....

Are you an instructions follower?

I'm like a British Empire lighthouse keeper when it comes to unboxing and instructions; we will begin with included material as presented, chapter one, page one, the first instruction. Order will be maintained.

But it's interesting how different devices these days take different approaches - there's very little you can do with a current BMW without being a studious instructions-follower (you set how high the rear liftgate opens in the on-screen menus on the dash,) yet any instructions-free Apple product assumes you just want to start pushing buttons and see what happens; kind of a shame as there are so many things hidden in the Apple interface (pressing and holding the on-screen spacebar turns on touchpad mode, where the cursor moves on the screen like responding to a computer touchpad..)

I do, only when needed. I generally can handle all tech and mechanical stuff just fine, even in complex situations. I don't need instructions to figure out how a product works. I read instructions in 2 situations:

- I'm in a very big hurry to use/test something of relatively high complexity
- I encounter something that suppose to be simple and is excessively complex

Let me give you an example of the excessively complex situation: I ordered a while ago a table to have for guests. I usually build my own furniture out of wood, but this was kind of an emergency and I needed a table for the living room. The table arrived in the original package disassembled. When I opened the package, there were 14 A4 pages of instructions of assembly and a very big bag of screws, nuts, rivets, clamps and other stuff. I did not want to read all that so I stared the assembly using basic logic. At a point I realized I made an error because 2 of the components were identical in size and I used the wrong ones in the wrong places. I checked the manual and saw what way wrong. Took a quick look (a few seconds) on some other pages too to see if the rest is generally fine (and it was).

I hate such over-complexity; it took me over 30 minutes to assemble that table while the classic ones had 4 nuts that needed to be fixed in place and assembly took around 30 seconds. If I would of read all 14 pages 1st, it would not have taken me less time to assemble.
So in some cases, no matter what, there comes a situation when instructions must actually be read, there's no escape from that in today's over-complex world.

Always. I'll set up the nuts, bolts, screws or whatever else is needed for each step, read through that step multiple times, sometimes read the next step to see why I'm doing what I'm doing on the current step. But inevitably, at some point, I will back step two or three steps to correct a mistake.

I will usually "speedread" quickly and then start "experimenting". If I am dealing with something highly complex or very expensive I pay closer attention and go slower...
The older I get, the more conventional I seem to become....

Crazyeddiethefirst said:

I will usually "speedread" quickly and then start "experimenting". If I am dealing with something highly complex or very expensive I pay closer attention and go slower...
The older I get, the more conventional I seem to become....

Click to expand...

I must be your Dorian Gray Twin.
I'm afaid that I only resort to the instructions if I hit a snag, then I spend hours researching the thing on the web.
I consider it a personal failing if I have to read them straight off.
P

Thanks for the tip about the spacebar, SH, I would never have found that.
P

Yes, I have always read the instructions. In fact on many occasions, I have pointed out major mistakes in Nikon's top of the line camera Specs. Once at a trade show, I showed the Rep.'s at their booth the problem, and they were shocked. As were on lookers when they said, on my God he is right.

After correcting them them at their US disturbing Hdqs, they gave me a number in Japan to call instead. And, this was more than bad translation, just some big mistakes on what their Eq. could perform; The overstating of their own specifications. Most likely bad communication between engineers, and manual writers.

When I teach photography, I say: always, always, always read the manual, try every single function the camera will perform, and have a good instructional reference book on digital photography.

I have heard so many many professional photographers tell me, 'I stay away from the manual.' Hard to believe, but true. Me, I carry my manuals with me on every job I have ever done. What do you do if you have a problem.

A few years back, I noticed an AP photographers display in Japanese, and I said wow, you speak Japanese? He said, no, but he did something awhile back, and could not figure out how to set it back to English. I said give me the camera, and two seconds later, he had his camera back to English. I asked where the manual was, and he said they toss them with the boxes...AP mind you!

Read, read, and read everything you can on a subject you have invested time and money in, and are charging people for! Most Pro.'s set everything on auto, I set everything myself but, I do use Auto Focus.

Always read instructions!! PLEASE! Do it for yourself!

Agreed red, Nikon manuals are pretty good in my view and certainly worth squeezing into a carry bag.

I tried it the "I don't need instructions" method a couple of times in my youth. It usually took a long time to put it together due to getting it set up wrong in some way and then I would have to refer to the instructions anyway to get it right. By the time it was over I was frustrated and didn't even want to use the item for the rest of the day.

Wisdom soon prevailed and now I read the instructions quickly first to get a general idea of what is to occur, then I follow the instructions precisely and it gets set up in no time.

I'll read the manual, especially when assembling things. There may be a reason that you assemble part C before part A, and it may not be intuitive.

But when I read the manual I read the first part closely. If everything they are doing is logical and follows the same general steps it's safe to just skim the rest of the manual paying particular attention to the names of each option/setting. For instance my home phone has 87 options. I don't need to read the steps for bringing up a sub menu 87 times so I skip over those parts. If I remember that there is an option labeled "long tone" it's easy to find again.

Frequently you can get by without the manual if the device is designed logically. A car with push and turn nobs for the radio is likely to have other push and turn knobs for things like temperature control.

Daniel

I had to read the manual for my S10 work truck twice a year when the time changed. Then I got a Ranger and that was logical enough to figure out without the book.

This year they gave me a fully loaded F150 to use and holy smokes that thing has a bunch of gadgets and gizmos.

I think if I twist the headlight knob enough times and push the radio knob to off it'll start my microwave as I pull up to my house in the evening...

There's a dropdown menu in the infotainment programming screen to sync with smart home appliances. As long as the truck has access to WiFi, either through your phone or a nearby available network, you can start, stop, and adjust appliances from the road...

























:nana:

Instructions are for the weak...

If there is a quick start set of instructions, then maybe. If i do, its always after the ' push all the buttons ' approach has failed. Pretty much yes when setting up the Samsung Smart TV though. For the average Aussie bloke, reference to the instruction manual is tantamount to an admission of failure....

harro said:

...reference to the instruction manual is tantamount to an admission of failure....

Click to expand...

Failure to act wisely. :twothumbs

I read manuals. All about manuals. Love manuals. I was a Submariner. You don't have lots of free time, but there is not a lot to do. I would bring a few new tech toys on patrol and literally read the manual cover to cover before taking a photo, playing a tape, etc. It definitely pays off.

I have absolutely no ego when it comes to understanding how something works. If a manual will help me, I'm all over it for sure.

She, who must be obeyed, seems to ask me all too often, ' HAVE YOU READ THE INSTRUCTIONS? '. Hmmm, maybe there is wisdom in that short sentence/question, after all........

Lesson learned about reading instructions today.

Last night at about 8:30 my oldest calls and says "dad my toilet's leaking".
"Where at?" I retorted.
"The bolts between the top and bottom half." He said "I tried to fix it and made it worse".

A 1990's installtion so I knew what he was speaking of. I said go to Home Depot and get a bolt kit, they'll know what you need but hurry because they close at 9. He says "I believe they close at 10 or 11." Knowing they close at 9 during winter hours before daylight savings kicks in I said "just go in case I'm right."

While he was gone I drained stuff and prepared the project. He returned with a universal kit. I've installed at least 12 sets of bolts so instructions? Pffft.

Carefully I put it together like those dozen times before. Fasten tank to bottom, tighten bolts. Done, right?
Nope. Leak. Well I figured it was the big gasket between top and bottom, redrained and re-prepared things. Install universal gasket and reassemble. Leak is worse. Huh?

Well a little twist here, a bit of tightening there the leak was an occasional drip. And yes the store had closed at 9. I placed a 3 gallon bucket under the drip and called it a night. My thought was that universal gasket didn't fit correct so I'd return to the box store and pick up a brand specific one.

They had the part. Again drain the tank and prepare the project. Carefully reassemble the way I'd done those 12 other times and...dawg gonnit. The leak is worse. Take it apart and do it again. Leak was worse.

Seriously, what could it be? No the tank was not cracked.
Hmmph!

Instructions? Well let's take a look. It showed to fastened the bolt kit to the tank itself, then fasten the tank to the bottom half. Huh? I thought about it long enough to smoke a cigarette and drain things again.

Whut-thuh-heck? Let's try doing it the way those stupid instructions recommend. Well dress me up n call me Sally. It worked.

Now besides the instructions solving the issue, another thing I learned was to keep a couple of gallons of water nearby. See, once it's reassembled and the water is turned back on if there's a leak you have several gallons to waste. If you pour about a quart in the tank and things are dry, you pour the rest in their. It puts about 2 inches in the tank and provides plenty of head pressure to prove leak or no leak. Those other 12 times I suppose I had never had a leak.

What instructions?

Yes. Absolutely. Always. The first thing I'm looking for when I open up a package. I will sit down and read the instructions, not all of it usually. Just the basics and then anything I'm interested in. And keep them for future reference.

Always, dont like buying something and missing something out that i could benefit from.

Working my way through these