I was cleaning out my shelves under the TV last week. I came across a bag with a dozen instruction manuals for all of the various parts of the entertainment systems. From the Optimum online connection to the DVD and sound systems and the TV set. I had kept them all for a decade but never looked at them once. If I had a problem, I went online. Look at the bundle!
So much wasted money on printing, paper and shipping:
- Optimum Online Quick Installation Guide – but it is 24 pages long.
- Acoustic Research Performance Home Theater Hook-Up Guide – this is a poster that has dozens of lines and graphs and is the most confusing thing.
- Samsung DVD Recorder Quick Setup Guide – not sure what this is for.
- Samsung Instruction Manual DVD-R135 – the same as the one before but in a different style.
- Samsung Plasma Display TV Owner’s Instruction – a manual for a TV? Really?
- Peerless universal wall mounts assembly instructions – just make sure you find a stud — and if not, anchor it with the plastic mounts.
- Harmon Kardon gird to set up stereo – another really confusing grid of lines and diagrams.
- Some “Important Safety Precautions!” sheet with a picture of a house – just don’t stand in water when handling electricity?
- Optimum Quick Reference Guide – basically the same as #1, just extra stuff.
- Cablevision remote control Operating Instructions – remote control? Point and click…
- Plus a dozen other brochures and the like- you get the idea.
I tossed everyone of them into the garbage can.
I used to be so diligent in keeping every instruction and manual. I would put them in a plastic bag or a folder. I kept it nice and neat and placed it on the bookshelf next to the entertainment center. Then it just sat there for a decade. Collecting dust.
Not everything is better with our digital world — but instruction manuals are definitely better online and on demand.
