Heard a guy at the parts counter say he misses paper service manuals | Appliance Repairers - Freelance Forum - The Community for Independent Professionals
Heard a guy at the parts counter say he misses paper service manuals
He was picking up a board for a new fridge. Said he had to look up the error code on his phone. Told me he used to keep a stack of manuals in his van, all marked up with notes. Now it's all online, which is fine, but it feels different. Anyone else keep a few old paper manuals around just for the feel of it?
Oh man, I get it. There's something about a greasy fingerprint right on the diagram of the exact part you're swearing at. Now you're just swiping through a tiny phone screen with clean hands, hoping the website hasn't been redesigned into uselessness. It's like the difference between a real map and GPS. Sure, one is faster, but the other made you feel like you actually knew where you were.
Hold up I still got a 1997 Honda Civic manual in my glovebox even though I haven't owned that car in a decade. Guess I'm just emotionally attached to paper at this point. Probably need an intervention honestly.
That's a smart move keeping the old manuals. What I did was print the PDF for my most common service calls and put it in a binder. You can still write notes in the margins, and it doesn't need wifi to load. Saves a lot of time when the online portal is slow or you're in a basement with no signal.