Hot off the presses

I'm the proud owner (but not quite possessor) of the new G1 smart phone from T-Mobile. I get to wait a month before I get to actually have it so, in anticipation of my new toy, I got a hold of the Getting Started guide for the G1.

I did this for two reasons: 1) to learn about what I had actually bought and, 2) to see how T-Mobile approached this new user manual.

Aside from the unfortunate and glaring typo on page 18 (Goggle Mail), it's a nice piece of writing. It informs readers on the basic anatomy of the phone, how to turn it on, and other requisite details, but it succeeds particularly well for 2 reasons. 

Layout The document is written primarily in landscape layout with 2 "pages" of content on each real page. This means that the writer didn't really expect people to print out the file - good assumption - and that, to maximize what a person will see on their computer screen, landscape was the way to go because computer screens are oriented in landscape themselves. Smart.

Just the Facts The sections of the document are very short and straight forward, instructing readers on how to accomplish simple tasks. There's little to no fluff. Good.

Add these characteristics together and you've got a very readable document. Maybe more importantly, you've got a document that's easy to skim - who's really going to read anything like this cover to cover anyway?

So, T-Mobile, you succeeded in knowing your audience and giving them a very friendly user manual. I am sorry though that today's modern spell-checkers can't catch it when you spell perhaps your most important business partner's name wrong. Call me - I do proofreading.