Online Prof

There was a time not that many years ago when corporations provided user manuals and instructions for their products. The tech industry has led the way in the elimination of this valuable aspect of a product. Without instruction manuals, many, many products -- PARTICULARLY tech products -- are completely worthless. As others have commented, video tutorials are not adequate. There is no easy way to look up the information one needs because there is NO topic index referring users to the correct videos and time on the applicable videos to lead users to the information we need. Furthermore, I know from using videos to teach online courses that the excuse that constant updates are necessary is not adequate. It is MUCH easier to edit text than it is to edit video. In fact, instructional videos require scripts, and those scripts are initially text. Since the text must be produced and revised before the videos can be produced and revised, it simply makes no sense that at least an online manual can't be made available and kept up-to-date more quickly than video tutorials. As a consumer, I'm sick of paying corporations for products and then having to conduct research, buy expensive manuals, or simply muddle through learning how to use the products. It is fantastic that consumers often post instructions on YouTube. But I'm not paying the consumers to teach me how to use products; I'm paying corporations to do so. Our economy is increasingly unconcerned with consumers and, therefore, quality and service. What a delightful culture technology has created.