A versatile use of "paper"..

Question

This is my first ever 'rant' on a bulletin board..
I quote from Mark Singer's post, near the end of this thread:
"I see you got HD Sony working right. You have to be a detective(or follow instructions!)"
What the ..?
What is the big deal about "following instructions" - reading the instruction book which comes with a new camcorder, or following camcorder Menus?
Why do so many people not seem to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS..?
Along with the plastic wrapping, the battery, possibly a tape, a whole heap of cardboard, some electrical cables, perhaps a wrist-strap, and maybe a remote control - and a guarantee - there's a small wodge of thin white stuff called "paper" in the box, and it's got small black marks on it called "printing".
It may take half an hour or so to look at those small black marks, and it may involve turning over what are called the "pages" (..the individual slices or "sheets" of "paper"..) but it's half an hour well spent BEFORE using the camcorder ..and it can be done while waiting for that small piece of plastic - the battery - to fill up with electricity for the first time ..so you can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak!
Those small black marks on the "paper" actually explain the features of the camcorder: what it does; how to turn it on; how to connect it to other devices ..and - in the case of an HDV camcorder - how to get the pictures out of it ..in either HDV or DV format.. and into some other device such as a computer, for editing.
Am I the ONLY person whose first action when opening a box with a new camcorder in it is to read the instructions?
[..There is an old four-letter saying: RTFM ..Its definition can be found in 'Wikipedia'.]
To comply with the conditions of posting here, I'll try to make this post helpful:
..It is often worth looking at all the little connection sockets on a camcorder, and seeing what their label says: it may say 'DV' or 'USB' or 'MIC - PLUG-IN POWER'. These say what the connections are for. Most camcorders have built-in 'Menus', too, which allow the Import and Export features of the camcorder to be altered to allow appropriate connection to another device, like a TV, DVD recorder or player, a computer, or another camcorder.
It's worth looking in the camcorder's Instruction Book to see what all these facilities allow, and to see how the camcorder can be interconnected with other equipment.
Doing this ..particularly in the case of a new HDV camcorder.. allows the new user to understand how to get newly-shot video out of the camcorder and into an editing program such as iMovie.
[..When I got this laptop which I'm using, I found that inside it, underneath the screen, were a whole load of little alumin(i)um squares with 'letters' on, arranged like this: QWERTYUIOP, and so on. I had no reason to use the word "QWERTYUIOP", so I couldn't understand what they were for, or what they did. But after a bit of thought, I realised that they could be pressed in a different order, thus allowing me to write, for example, the word UNQUESTIONABLE, or COURAGEOUS.
And the first bit of thought which it's useful to have when using new equipment, is to consider reading the Instruction Manual.]
<Phew!> ..Now I'll go and take a cold shower.. ..no; maybe three..
Feel free to ignore me, or to go off in a huff.

Answer 1

David,
I believe you are mostly preaching the choir here. Those that read your rant are those that would help (and I'd bet that they are also the ones that have read the manual. Sometimes even before purchasing an intem). Those that ask basic questions like here are mostly also those that do not look for other treads (and even ignore threads that have the same topic).
It's a sad fact that many people indeed go for 'instant gratification' and want everything, now! No time to read a manual, I'd might miss some fun. There are times when we receive angy emails from customers who complain that they do not know how to enter a serial number. Although I will agree that the process can be made simpler (and we are working on this), it is described in the email, and the manual that comes with each of our products. Somehow people assume that they know everything there is to know, and infer knowledge about the current application from past experience. To be honest, this works in the 'real world'. Do you read the manual before borrowing your friend's car? Before using an oven? Sadly, this does not translate well into the world of software or computerized appliances (for which the software designers have to take some of the blame).
Btw - in your rant you wrote that people may use the time spent reading to charge their new battery. Nice try, but to do that they would have to read the manual first. Plus, not to put too fine a point on this - did you ever happen upon a poorly (read: Babelfish) translated manual?
All in all, though: couldn't agree more. Now, let's all get off this soapbox, and help the hapless ones that didn't like to read...
-ch
Please Note:
I work for cf/x, and may profit from posting here. -- hey did you read this? In that case you probably also read manuals... Cheers!