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Whatever happened to reading the manual first?

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Deleted member 94047

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More and more, I am seeing people asking questions that can be answered by reading the user manuals for the various Mavics; or failing that, by a quick search of the forums. I understand that some people may prefer this "conversational" form but it is bringing the quality of the discussion in these forums down to the level of a mere FAQ. Come on all, let's keep these forums interesting because they are kinda going down hill.
 
Well come on, many people are on the fence about buying a particular drone so going through the process of locating, downloading, and then reading through a manual, which may not address the particular question you have is, well, a bit much. Being able to ask a question in a forum with many knowledgeable people can greatly speed the flow of information, particularly for those that have yet to commit to buying a particular drone. Are you just now discovering the fact that people come to places like this to, ahem, learn?


Brian
 
Agreed. And - I doubt this is just about drones. To the point that some manufacturers of devices give limited or no instructions. To this end, sad to say, there are many younger people who may have never read an instruction manual, or know their importance. They just turn on their new device and see what happens by trial-and-error. And with many devices, the chance for error is almost “0”. For example, many kids have a new iPhone costing as much as a drone, they just crank it up and head to YouTube if there’s an issue.
The problem with that with drones becomes obvious when you head over to “lost and crashed drones” and see the number of launches with people not even knowing what they are doing, or what the drone does (yes, return to home is done at a set height...) , never mind the laws! So it may lead to more than tears if it all goes pear shaped.
Second hand, yep, as with me there was no manual- but someone linked me in with one online and I read it.
I feel your frustration- especially as their oft inadvertent actions are often what leads to fallout for all of us.
 
Well come on, many people are on the fence about buying a particular drone so going through the process of locating, downloading, and then reading through a manual, which may not address the particular question you have is, well, a bit much. Being able to ask a question in a forum with many knowledgeable people can greatly speed the flow of information, particularly for those that have yet to commit to buying a particular drone. Are you just now discovering the fact that people come to places like this to, ahem, learn?
Yes and no... I think what frustrates some of us is questions akin to “where is the on button” - ok I jest but only just - that can be so easily ascertained even by reading the forum, let alone the manual, before asking.
But hell yes, I’d rather someone asks than just goes and flies around the local air show in atti mode... So a fine line regards what you should ask. And one persons dumb question is probably one that others want to ask but don’t!
No biggie for me- my biggest gripe is when you answer the question at hand and you get no reply! Not even thanks or “I’ve tried that and it didn’t work”. That’s like... grrr ?
But overall I do enjoy helping people out so ask away: but respond when someone tries to help.
I guess another concern might be, if you can’t figure out how to take off, once we help you, what are you going to be like flying the thing? I’d be pretty concerned if a pilot flying me asked where the throttle was!
 
I still see posts on Facebook forums where somebody has a new drone and zips it up to a few hundred feet over their town - takes a picture or video - posts it - and then gets hammered for disobeying CAA rules! It does appear that a very high proportion of new owners have only looked at marketing info that has lots of smiling faces and drones at the beach or mountains - and have no idea that there are CAA/FCC rules governing flying the UAV, or that getting the most from those features they've seen requires reading a manual. Being a technical geek - I did read my manual when I go my Mavic Pro Platinum, and where the manual raised questions, I got answers from YouTube. I'm definitely not typical though - and although it can be repetitive and maybe a bit boring - I will treat those questions from new owners as though they were first time & sensible - because I remember how valuable the good advice that I got was.
 
Yes Davros007, I've noticed a lot of threads just end after there has been a flood of advice, and no response after that, it's very rude and no-one gets to know the if the suggested fixes work.
How many times do you see "Thanks for letting us know that worked for you." ... Answer - a lot less often than you see somebody thanking somebody else for the advice ... It does go both ways that one ...
 
How many times do you see "Thanks for letting us know that worked for you." ... Answer - a lot less often than you see somebody thanking somebody else for the advice ... It does go both ways that one ...
Yeah, I guess it is that general curtesy stuff that can get lost easily on the internet (first noticed I believe when then old CB radios came out - airwave warriors, trolls and generally disrespectful on-air stuff preceded keyboard heroes!). It’s not just words on a screen, it’s people. Not only that, you have no real idea of who you are judging, supporting or conversing with. Pays to just be polite!
 
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Well come on, many people are on the fence about buying a particular drone so going through the process of locating, downloading, and then reading through a manual, which may not address the particular question you have is, well, a bit much. Being able to ask a question in a forum with many knowledgeable people can greatly speed the flow of information, particularly for those that have yet to commit to buying a particular drone. Are you just now discovering the fact that people come to places like this to, ahem, learn?


Brian
I think you misunderstood me a little. This is a great forum for learning and I can't overstate the importance of what I have learned from this forum. I am just a little disheartened by the amount of questions being asked by people who have obviously made no effort to find out answers to the questions they pose. It is lazy and quite frankly inconsiderate to expect someone else to do your homework. For obvious reasons, I will refrain from giving actual examples. But I am certainly not complaining about people asking for advice or asking for other people's experience of a particular drone model.
 
Being a technical geek - I did read my manual when I go my Mavic Pro Platinum, and where the manual raised questions, I got answers from YouTube. I'm definitely not typical though - and although it can be repetitive and maybe a bit boring - I will treat those questions from new owners as though they were first time & sensible - because I remember how valuable the good advice that I got was.
I do agree with you on almost every point. But at the same time, I am beginning to wonder if helping someone who obviously hasn't read the user manual is actually the right thing to do. They ask here and they get answers, they are satisfied and go about flying these complex machines without ever reading the user manual and fully understanding what they do. But this is just a thought.
 
I do agree with you on almost every point. But at the same time, I am beginning to wonder if helping someone who obviously hasn't read the user manual is actually the right thing to do. They ask here and they get answers, they are satisfied and go about flying these complex machines without ever reading the user manual and fully understanding what they do. But this is just a thought.
Just what I was thinking too!
 
another problem is that manuals are not written very clearly, or require some knowledge of the product type
 
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I think you misunderstood me a little. This is a great forum for learning and I can't overstate the importance of what I have learned from this forum. I am just a little disheartened by the amount of questions being asked by people who have obviously made no effort to find out answers to the questions they pose. It is lazy and quite frankly inconsiderate to expect someone else to do your homework. For obvious reasons, I will refrain from giving actual examples. But I am certainly not complaining about people asking for advice or asking for other people's experience of a particular drone model.


No problem, not busting on you, just making the point that spending an hour or more to find, or maybe not find, the info you're looking for in a manual you have to download might not be the reasonable path to take for someone uncertain about a purchase decision. I do absolutely agree that some folk, particularly newbies, might be well advised to peruse the manuals to formalize the knowledge. OTH, the manuals generally do little to inform you of the limits of what you're permitted to do, this is partly understandable given the many differences around the world and the changing rules in any one of them. They also tend to shy away from much talk on this so as not to scare off potential buyers.

Frankly, what we probably should have is a checklist for newbies we can point to when one asks a revealingly newbish question and such a checklist might help inform these new pilots about the very existence of rules that, sadly, many seem oblivious to. A checklist that covers, among other things: setup/calibration, connection to phones/tablets, weather issues to be aware of, the very existence of rules limiting where and when you can fly, flight characteristics, maintenance, etc.

In addition, part of the problem is not limited to newbies as I've seen countless times where long term members of these forums say the most ridiculous and endangering things. High on that list are statements by long term members that they should be able to, for example, fly in any national park anytime they want -- almost implying ... hey, I spent hundreds of US dollars for this drone so I'm entitled to fly anywhere I want. These folks may me sad!


Brian
 
I do agree with you on almost every point. But at the same time, I am beginning to wonder if helping someone who obviously hasn't read the user manual is actually the right thing to do. They ask here and they get answers, they are satisfied and go about flying these complex machines without ever reading the user manual and fully understanding what they do. But this is just a thought.
I agree - Personally I'm horrified that people would spend that much money on something that could cause harm/damage, and/or get lost - without an hour or two flicking through a manual!
In a lot of cases, you can tell who has read the manual and if the question they have arises from that - but when it's obvious that somebody hasn't - as a first step, I'll usually drop them a download reference for the manual - and often a page number - and suggest that they get to know the complex little flying machine that they just purchased.
 
More and more, I am seeing people asking questions that can be answered by reading the user manuals for the various Mavics; or failing that, by a quick search of the forums. I understand that some people may prefer this "conversational" form but it is bringing the quality of the discussion in these forums down to the level of a mere FAQ. Come on all, let's keep these forums interesting because they are kinda going down hill.

Some people are older & have eye problems. I'm 84 & have macular degeneration. The dang book that comes is so small I can't read it!!
I "try" to find manuals on the Internet so I can enlarge the print on my 42" monitor.
I want to thank all people on here with very helpful answers to questions. I learn a lot here.
 
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