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.

Help Forums

Several weeks ago I went to start my car and had a dead battery. Fortunately I anticipated such a problem and carry a lithium-ion battery that can be used to start cars and charge mobile phones. I connected it to my car battery and the car started right up. Then I drove around for a half hour so I could start my car the next day. Sure enough, that worked and I forgot about my battery problems until the following week when it happened again.

I had replaced my car battery only 18 months ago and figured I had a defective battery. So I brought the battery to a sister store of where I originally purchased it. They did some tests but could not conclusively tell me the battery had died. To do that would take an hour. They listened to my symptoms and agreed that the battery must also be dead and so after only 15 minutes, gave me a new one under warranty. That made me happy.

The car worked great for a few days and then I left it over the weekend. When I got back in town, I went to start the car and once again the battery was dead. Oops! My other battery was probably fine and the car turned out to be the source of the problem. So how do you find a battery drain in your when it is off? The first thing to do is check the Internet.

I did an Internet search with the make and model of my car along with the two words: "Battery" and "drain." After about 10 minutes of reading I discovered that the final sending unit (FSU) on my car often goes bad and leaves the cabin fan running even when the car is turned off. I looked for a replacement part online and discovered that if I ordered it from a local autoparts store I could have it that day for $100. If I ordered from an OEM parts supplier, I could have it in 2 or 3 days and it only cost $50. Not being sure that the new part would fix the problem, I opted for the OEM part. For those that don't know, OEM means it is the same part supplied by the manufacturer instead of an aftermarket part. I always try to use OEM parts when possible unless the aftermarket part is much more reliable and preferred by professional car mechanics.

To combat my dead battery each morning, I just unplugged the negative terminal from the car battery each night and reset my clock when I went to use the car. Once the part arrived, the Internet provided step-by-step instructions on how to replace it and I spent a total of 5 minutes doing the work. It is now a week later and my car is working very well. I don't have the dead battery problem any more.

I wonder what I would have done without the Internet to help me crowdsource the solution to my problem. Several less mechanical people had taken their cars to the dealer only to spend upwards of $1000 and still not have the problem fixed.

Sometimes online help forums can backfire but I have used them with mostly good results. This weekend I was doing laundry and noticed that my washing machine was not spinning the clothes to remove all of the water before I tossed them into the dryer. I looked at several online appliance forums to discover that I may have had a sensor problem. They told me to get the diagnostic code from the washer. I went to do that and noticed that my son had simply turned off the spin cycle. Turning it back on solved the problem. I guess I didn't need the help forum for that case as I just needed to be a bit more observant.