This past week, I have begun to install a home wireless security camera system. Like every other product we open these days, the instructions were several pages thick because they came in several languages. I saw in a recent interview that in this modern world, if you want to compete on an international stage, and if you put out a good product, you need to market that product internationally and therefore the instructions in multiple languages. It makes sense.
Here is what didn't make sense. The person who writes the instructions needs to be someone who is a normal human being that can relate to the task at hand and write it in simple terms. Let me explain by an example. One of the first things we had to do was to download an app to one of our phones and then configure the cameras. Check this out...
Make sure you know the SSID (WIFI network name) and password of the 2.4GHz WPA/WPA2 WiFi network that you want your camera to connect to. Your network cannot be hidden. Note: You cannot connect to an SSID with any space(s) in it. You can replace the space by entering your router's settings. For example, "My Router" is not allowed, but "My_Router" is allowed.
Now look, I'm not stupid and I know I'm not Einstein either, but that wasn't Italian or Spanish, or even French. I know the language that was and I don't speak it like I don't speak the others. That was written in Geek. I'm 61 years old. I took two years of Spanish in high school. Geek wasn't offered. It wasn't offered because back then the only ones who had computers was the government. In college Geek was being taught but I wasn't interested. If you learned Geek, you had to buy a pocket protector and they didn't look good, so I was out. Those were the days when computers were the size of railroad cars.
My first sense upon reading these instructions was that I needed a 12 year old to figure them out. They seem to know everything these days about computers and are not intimidated. Why not? They have their faces buried in their I-phones or laptops all day and night.
So, if anyone out is reading this who writes instruction books or knows someone who does, please add another category along with English, Spanish, French, German, Swahili or whatever else you people have. Add Geezer to the list. Yep. Make it easy to understand to us who don't have tape on our glasses ad wear pocket protectors. Excuse me, I need to go call my granddaughter for help.
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