Re: Re[2]: FrameMaker Required

[Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET>]

At 03:16 PM 3/17/96 EST, you wrote:
>On 3-14-96 Robert Plamondon wrote:

><snip>
>>> My experience is that few people read manuals until
>>> they are completely stuck.  If they can muddle along,
>>> they are content.  Thus, one can become an instant
>>> expert by plowing through the manual set.
><snip>
>==========
>Robert,
>For the record, I have never *plowed through* a manual or manual set
>in my life.  I'm a voracious reader, but I read books that describe
>processes conceptually.  I know what tasks an application pkg should
>perform.  If the how-to is not obvious from the interface, then I go
>to the book.  This approach works for me.  Furthermore and as a
>result of this approach, I consider myself an expert on a handful
>of tools.  I do not muddle along, unless I am using a tool so
>infrequently that learning it is just not worth the bother (for
>example, some Norton utilities).

Me too, Joyce. I have to confess that I almost always dive into a package,
then use the manual when I can't intuit my way out of a box. I know most of
my users work that way, too, unless they're having formal training. I like
working with live files to get my bearings. I work through the live ones,
learning how the original creator did things. It's inefficient as hell, but
I can't bring myself to sit and march through a manual.

Tim Altom
Vice President
Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice)
317.899.5987 (fax)
http://www.iquest.net/simply/simplywritten