>> Yes, but WHAT DOES IT DO??!? >_<
>>
>> Sometimes people are just too close to a project to remember that
>> somebody else might not know this crucial information. Without that
>> context, the rest often makes little or no sense.
> 
> Not restricted to software, either. How about microwave ovens?  Or the DVD
> player I have? Manuals thick as a magazine, full of tech-speak. Far too often,
> it seems that the engineers who create these gadgets are the same ones who
> write the manuals.  Great engineers, terrible writers. Especially if the
> instructions are originally written in a foreign language, then translated.
> OMG!

Actually... most such items I've seen have quite good manuals. E.g., my 
dad's CD player has an extensive manual that explains more or less 
everything you could possibly want to know - given that we're talking 
about a device where you put a CD in, press the big green button, and it 
plays music.

The fun ones are motherboard manuals. These are always auto-translated 
from Korean, and you often get the impression that the person writing 
the documentation isn't completely sure what option X actually does! o_O

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