Suggestion--keep your camera manual in the bathroom

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:28:30 GMT, King Sardon
wrote:

I read the manual exhaustively while choosing what new camera to buy.
You calling me abnormal?

Yes you are, but you are to be commended.

How else do you make a buying decision?

Are you implying that most people read the manual off the monitor
before buying cameras??

I'm not implying anything. I'm stating that, as that facility is
available, it's foolish not to use it. How else do you choose a
camera? By appearance? :-)

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 11:16:49 +0000, Laurence Payne
lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:28:30 GMT, King Sardon
wrote:

I read the manual exhaustively while choosing what new camera to buy.
You calling me abnormal?

Yes you are, but you are to be commended.

How else do you make a buying decision?

Are you implying that most people read the manual off the monitor
before buying cameras??

I'm not implying anything. I'm stating that, as that facility is
available, it's foolish not to use it. How else do you choose a
camera? By appearance? :-)

I go to Dpreview and understand what the camera has to offer, then see
what those who've already bought the camera have to say.
Reading the manual, to me, is a good way to see *how* to do what the
camera offers, but I won't spend the time doing that until I have the
camera.
YMMV, of course.

--
Civil rights used to be about
treating everyone the same.
But today some people are so
used to special treatment that
equal treatment is considered
to be discrimination.

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:44:06 -0600, Ron Hunter
wrote:

Laurence Payne wrote:
On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:38:20 -0800, Phil Wheeler
wrote:

It's often said that the manual is not worth the
paper it's printed on.

Who by?

I have seen some where that definitely applied..
I particularly enjoy the ones translated from Chinese/Japanese by 10
year old workers. Very amusing.
Not too useful, though.

I always thought they were translated from Japanese to English by
Laplanders who understood neither, but used phrase books.

--
Civil rights used to be about
treating everyone the same.
But today some people are so
used to special treatment that
equal treatment is considered
to be discrimination.

On 09 Jan 2007 02:35:45 GMT, (Ray Fischer) wrote:

Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:
On Sun, 07 Jan 2007 21:57:14 GMT, King Sardon
wrote:

When you get your new camera, what is more exciting: play with the new
camera or read the manual? I don't think any normal person would say
the latter. Besides, those inscrutable volumes are impossible to
understand unless you have some experience with the camera.

I read the manual exhaustively while choosing what new camera to buy.
You calling me abnormal?

When I ordered my dSLR I already knew how to use it by time it was
delivered. Spending a thousand dollars on a camera that you don't
even want to know how to use is stupid.

Let's be a little careful about calling people stupid.
Just because someone doesn't do things the way you do them doesn't
make them stupid. You're not that good.

--
Civil rights used to be about
treating everyone the same.
But today some people are so
used to special treatment that
equal treatment is considered
to be discrimination.

Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:
On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:38:20 -0800, Phil Wheeler

It's often said that the manual is not worth the
paper it's printed on.

Who by?

Mostly people who get to, ah, exclusively /experience/ Microsoft's
online help.

Or people buying today's computer games.

I remember the Good Old Times(tm), when a manual was a manual and
often enough a 300 page softcover book, well written and organized.
For a /game/. Which came with a tutorial and everything, too.
With extensive background information, and maybe even a novella
set to the games' universe.

-Wolfgang

According to Wolfgang Weisselberg :
Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:
On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:38:20 -0800, Phil Wheeler

It's often said that the manual is not worth the
paper it's printed on.

Who by?

Mostly people who get to, ah, exclusively /experience/ Microsoft's
online help.

Note that O'Neil's publishers produce a series called _The
Missing Manual_ to provide what *should* have come with various flavors
of Windows. And -- they make enough profit from that to keep the series
going. (Of course, they publish a lot of other very good computer and
computer language manuals and guides, starting from the "nutshell"
series of guides for unix.) If unix has a problem in terms of manuals,
it is an overwhelming *surplus* of information (most of it available at
the command line), so condensed guides are helpful to those starting
with unix.

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

In article , (DoN. Nichols) wrote:

Note that O'Neil's publishers produce a series called _The
Missing Manual_ to provide what *should* have come with various flavors
of Windows. And -- they make enough profit from that to keep the series
going. (Of course, they publish a lot of other very good computer and
computer language manuals and guides, starting from the "nutshell"
series of guides for unix.) If unix has a problem in terms of manuals,
it is an overwhelming *surplus* of information (most of it available at
the command line), so condensed guides are helpful to those starting
with unix.

Actually that's O'Reilly (he types as he looks at the bookshelf above the computer

Unless they use O'Neil for windows and O'Reilly for Mac. ??

--
Fred Lotte

According to Fred Lotte :
In article , (DoN. Nichols) wrote:

Note that O'Neil's publishers produce a series called _The
Missing Manual_ to provide what *should* have come with various flavors
of Windows. And -- they make enough profit from that to keep the series
going. (Of course, they publish a lot of other very good computer and
computer language manuals and guides, starting from the "nutshell"
series of guides for unix.) If unix has a problem in terms of manuals,
it is an overwhelming *surplus* of information (most of it available at
the command line), so condensed guides are helpful to those starting
with unix.

Actually that's O'Reilly (he types as he looks at the bookshelf above the computer

Unless they use O'Neil for windows and O'Reilly for Mac. ??

You're right. O'Neil is the name of a book with over a thousand
Irish fiddle tunes. :-)

I should keep some of those within reach to check. :-)

Thanks for the correction,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

"Ron Hunter" wrote in message
...
Phil Wheeler wrote:
King Sardon wrote:
On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:39:08 +0000, Laurence Payne
lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:

On Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:19:49 GMT, King Sardon
wrote:

I read the manual exhaustively while choosing what new camera to buy.
You calling me abnormal?
Yes you are, but you are to be commended.
How else do you make a buying decision?

Are you implying that most people read the manual off the monitor
before buying cameras??


I do .. and keep a pdf of it in my laptop: Easier to find info when
needed.

Phil
As do I. How about that, two smart people in the world....

Three. My hard drives are loaded with camera manuals. Cameras I own, or used
to own, or almost owned, or was just casually thinking of owning.

Neil

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

[ . . . ]

Note that O'Neil's publishers produce a series called _The
Missing Manual_

O'Reilly is the publisher. Who's O'Neil? ;-)

Neil