You would think that the first thing one would do, after purchasing a new gadget; after all the joy and happiness of acquiring that gadget and then unboxing and unwrapping it, would be to take a good glance at it－admiring it with a perfect look－you would expect that the next thing would be to read the manual. But no, it's not mostly the case, at least where I come from and from the experiences and observations I've had. Most tend not to look at it at even. It happens to just be a piece of paper, lying in the box or carton of the gadget or device.
Funny enough, when you would try to attempt reading the manual, people around could make it seem odd that you're reading a manual. Well, you don't until you have issues later on. The manual was set in place to answer questions and be a guide for the use of such a device. However, I think in my part of the world we find it more comfortable to keep the manual lying in the carton while looking for answers and directions from people.
For some reason, it seems easier to find these answers and directions from people rather than reading them from the manual. And to talk of this, my current device; if I did read the manual or not, it's a no. I didn't obtain the device as a new one, so while getting it, there was no manual passed along. Maybe you could say it wasn't much of a concern, that's why it was neither passed along nor did I care to request it. I mean, it's just a phone, right?
Nevertheless, manuals are important, which I consider the manufacturer wouldn't deem fit to put along the product while packaging. It speaks to how useful it is. This might just be a phone, something I'm familiar with and certainly can find my way around. What if it's something out of my familiar zone? Reading through manuals of some gadgets or devices, ones I could say to be familiar with, I found some things usually new, useful and helpful. So, even with those gadgets that are seemingly not new to one, the manual could be a handful too.
I've had several devices and gadgets, and I can say to a large extent that I hardly do justice of reading the manuals that come along. Most times, because I feel it's something I know, nothing complex, nothing vague, with a little here and there, I'll get rolling with it. How that has worked out many times. Yet, there were times when the manual became a last resort and a must go to.
While it may seem a normal thing to skip reading a manual and somehow find our way around a gadget or device, the manual holds great, for the user. It tells what's on the mind of the manufacturer as an instruction to the consumer; all in a bid to see that such consumer finds full enjoyment and expressions of the product, not to have it as a must go to and a last resort. Well, I guess I'll be intentional about reading manuals now, and I hope they come with pictures and aren't that bulky. Chuckles!
