Whatever Happened to Computer Documentation?

I was cleaning out a bookcase recently and wondered whatever happened to computer documentation. When I got my first personal computer, it came with 3 one-inch-thick manuals. I know that those manuals became a sore point when Apple introduced the first Macintosh computers. However those manuals were useful. In contrast, the Macintosh operating system has become so complex, it could use at least 5 of those one-inch-thick manuals now.

In the days before the Internet, you would purchase a piece of software and it would come on a number of floppy disks. Included with those disks were printed manuals that provided all sorts of information on how to run the software. As more companies started releasing more software, a certain uniformity of the documentation emerged. If you upgraded from one version to the next, you might get a whole new set of manuals but all you really needed was the release notes which talked about new features and which bugs had been fixed.

Now there really isn't much of a reason to install software on your computer as most things are run in the Internet. That's fine, but how about including some quality documentation for those sites or tools? It seems as if most companies have come to the conclusion that if you can't figure it out on your own, they don't really care. Then someone that does care will create a video and post it to YouTube to help you figure it out. If YouTube isn't the right forum, then there are any number of online forums that will have the answer for you. Does that absolve the software producers from needing to create documentation? I don't think so.

Computers have evolved a long way from command-line interfaces and the need to have bookshelves full of printed instructions next to your desk. I just wish companies would do a better job of disseminating information about their latest products and not leave it up to users to create documentation for them.