so I'm reading through the Mac Plus manual, and I'm struck by how alien some of these concepts must have been.
They have multiple pages devoted to how to use a mouse.
On the other hand, the OS has a very consistent workflow and design language and methodology. They can explain complicated, abstract concepts in simple ways because they are consistent.
Apple of 1985 did a lot of things worth admiring (and a lot of shit, but that's another story.)
This kind of well produced, very well written, very thorough software manual, one that doesn't make assumptions about what knowledge you're bringing to the table, is sorely missing from modern software.
I'd pay $20-30 to have manuals like this for many pieces of modern software.
(OTOH, those pieces of software would need to be more well designed, and more consistent in their design language, in order for a manual like this to be at all useful.)
It's revealing of the state of the industry at large that software manuals don't exist anymore, and that documentation is often an afterthought.
It's elitist, IMO.
The books that I got with my Atari 400 (hand me downs in the mid nineties, I can't comment on what shipped with the system originally) were super thurrough, and also written at novices.
@ajroach42 I suspect that this behavior by orgs can be explained by the depth of the markets that they're working in and the degree of opportunity (return) that they perceive there is to be had from investing in such measures. If competitors are in ready supply and consumers are seemingly willing to put up with low information about using products, they may think that it's likely that providing more info will barely decrease the probability of consumers going with competition.
@ajroach42 I'm thinking about this in terms of that by not providing info on how to use X, orgs that produce X are shifting costs of using X and its possible substitutes (competitors products, if they lack significant differences) upon the consumer rather than bearing them themselves.
This is similar to #gameTheory scenarios, where if you invest in info about X but your competitor doesn't, they get to be more profitable and you financed the ease of use of their product, too.
