so I'm reading through the Mac Plus manual, and I'm struck by how alien some of these concepts must have been.
They have multiple pages devoted to how to use a mouse.
On the other hand, the OS has a very consistent workflow and design language and methodology. They can explain complicated, abstract concepts in simple ways because they are consistent.
Apple of 1985 did a lot of things worth admiring (and a lot of shit, but that's another story.)
This kind of well produced, very well written, very thorough software manual, one that doesn't make assumptions about what knowledge you're bringing to the table, is sorely missing from modern software.
I'd pay $20-30 to have manuals like this for many pieces of modern software.
(OTOH, those pieces of software would need to be more well designed, and more consistent in their design language, in order for a manual like this to be at all useful.)
It's revealing of the state of the industry at large that software manuals don't exist anymore, and that documentation is often an afterthought.
It's elitist, IMO.
The books that I got with my Atari 400 (hand me downs in the mid nineties, I can't comment on what shipped with the system originally) were super thurrough, and also written at novices.
@ajroach42 I remember choosing SuSE Linux back then their 6.x series was current precisely because it came with a 400+ page printed manual that covered installation, administration, and introduced major software packages. Likewise, I chose to switch to OpenBSD because they take documentation seriously.
@starbreaker I started using linux because I got a copy of Mastering Red Hat 7.1 from a discount book store.
It was 1000 pages, and eye opening.