As someone who bought his first computer in 1986 it's been a long strange trip from there to here. And things have not exactly been gettin better all the time!
QUE published the first computer manual I ever bought. It cost $29.95, contained over 1,000 pages and covered every conceivable aspect of WordPerfect 5.0. It wasn't always easy to understand (Where do they get the people who write these books? And how many IQ tests are they required to fail to prove themselves worthy of computer manual authorship?) But if you were patient and willing to put in the time you could usually find an answer to your question.
That happy sort of situation ceased to exist some years ago when computer programs began to become as bloated as a dead cow in fly time and things only got worse with the publication of Apple Works 6 the Missing Manual!
"If Only it were missing!" I've found myself thinking to myself time after time after time as I have struggled futilely to find the simplest answer to the simplest question with no luck whatever.
Today, for instance, I crafted a letter to an old friend that was quite long. Though I usually am satisfied with one sided printing, this opus was soooo long that two sided printing was more than clearly called for. Soooo, fear rising like the Red Sea in my throat I grit my teeth and plunged headfirst into yet another frustratingly complex search for the infamous “simple answer” to the question:
"How do you print on both sides of the page?"
First, I turned to the almost nonexistent index in hopes that some mention might be made there of printing. Although printing problems are legendary in the world of computing there was a mere 10 items listed under the heading of Printing in the index. And, you guessed it, none of them seemed to point in the direction of two-sided printing.
Oh, I gave it a try. Flipped through page after page of indexed references, but I came up empty handed.
So next, off to the Table of Contents. Where, under Advanced Word Processing I found - can you believe this - not a single mention of printing, let alone two-sided printing.
I would continue but I fear that what tottering remains of sanity I still manage to cling to with desperation might not survive the test so I will bring this rambling and time wasting rant to a close with three suggestions for O'Reilly Publishing:
1) Burn this book before the word gets out that you published it. Failure to do so might mark the beginning of the end for your company.
2) Raise the failing score of the IQ exam your computer manual authors must fail to get the job by at least 60 points! Perhaps then the candidates will at least have to be able to read before being allowed to write.
3) See what you can do to arrange a long relaxing trip to some Gulag for Elferdink and Reynolds. Believe me, they need a vacation and so do WE!
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