The Instruction Manual Thread of Infinite Gloom

Having been a recent user of your excellent maual I feel compelled to comment.

My vote would be for an online manual. This would allow for timely updates in response to feedback. Paper copies could be made available with the orders only upon request for a nominal fee and printed as needed. As a novice I really found the hard copy of the manual useful and liked to have it in the shop for reference. I suppose hardened epoxy would pop right off a laptop or phone (finger-grease barrier) especially if you gave it a good twist, but shop dust is a whole other matter. Besides that, the paper booklet could be popped into a bag to be read in a queue or taken to the beach. Mine only tore a little bit when I fell asleep while reading  (I called it studying) in the hammock. "Print page" might be an option but I think it would just invoke Sod's law and would cause the printer to run out of ink and paper simultaneously, and have a dead tree fall on the power lines, all while the sun finds the only crack in the shed wall to shine through, heating up the rapidly curing epoxy.

I don't think I would vote for 'real time' assistance. "Have you tried turning if off and turning it back on again?" works much better for IT issues than for woodworking questions. It would take the onus for problem-solving away from the customer (though most boat-builders I know like to figure things out for themselves) and leave less down-time for the folks at CLC to be out playing with and evaluating those prototypes.

There was a story in my schoolbook when I was a kid about a fellow who was taking advice from bystanders as he took his donkey to town. In trying to please all of the people all of the time he ended up carrying the donkey on his back. CLC is a great company run by real people who seem genuinely interested in what they are producing. I hope that in trying to keep up with technology and growth the fun isn't sucked out of it all for them and it can still be about the boats, not just the process.

 

Printed hard copy instructions are an integral part of my build process. Builders I know, and I, will have read the manual 20-30 times before and during the build.The brain, at least my brain, experiences analogue and digital formats in fundamentally different ways. Using an analogue manual while building by hand engages the same process engine. Many studies indicate reading on screen encourages skimming. For me, shifting between digital and analogue work requires a brain reboot. No studies to support this though.

However, having an electronic WIKI in addition could be a boon, for the builder and CLC. You guys wouldn't have to answer the same question all the time and we'd be able to post some solutions to common sticky points.


This completely leaves aside the issue of problem solving skills and the joy of discovery and accomplishment.

Humbly offered, ev