origins, intent and present

[Rob]

I found the manual useful...but singly the most useful learning tool by a million miles were Jeff's videos

[Rob]

I believe the best reason to implement this consolidated learning chunks idea is because after you've watched the video, after youve read the manual...its just you and the machine.  If you could print a one ot two page document from this forum that had all the salient information and take it right to the machine....it would really help.

Even now - (5 years in) I still reach for something that helps me remember how to load some obscure turning tool that I dont use every day....do I need the open seat or the closed, the torlok toolrest etc etc...so out comes the manual...its just not that great right there.  What I need is a focused printable document or a you tube 3 minute job that gives me the answers for that specific jig, that specific job so I can get on with turning and not have to spend an hour researching how to sharpen.

[Herman Trivilino]

Yeah, it's not really that helpful as a guide, more of a reference manual.  I had recorded and then watched the New Yankee Workshop episode so many times I felt I was already familiar with how to use the machine.  Plus, there were the videos that came with the machine.  This was the pre-YouTube era, and DVD's were so new that a DVD burner was a relatively expensive novelty.  VHS tape and 480p resolution was as good as it got.

[Rob]

Agreed, its exactly that...a reference manual with some preocedures in it.  Now dont get me wrong, those procedures are good, they work, the diagrams are particularly helpful....but its technical, its dry....you know...its a user manual...what can one say!!

Thats not how adult learning is best facilitated because it takes too long and its simply too boring.  We live in the information age and we have tools on our digital doorstep that are literally free of charge.  The optimal tool is of course the moving image....youtube.  So I think a written guide with friendly language and where necessary ie for tricky procedures...a back up of images or youtube or both would be the fully rounded solution.