26 Jan 2005 | kingbenny said...

After four years of engineering school, I'm almost ready to tackle stuff like that.

26 Jan 2005 | Ben said...

What I dont understand is that with a bit of artistic licence, (swapping the PC so the power is at the bottom for example) everything could be in a cricle and there would be no overlapping?

26 Jan 2005 | Jamie said...

It seems strange that they would outline the power supplies. Sure you need power, but isn't that a given? I know a power cord plugs into a power strip or wall outlet. I mean I know that they are essential, but eliminating that aspect of the diagram would definitely clean things up.

26 Jan 2005 | Stephen said...

London underground tube map.

26 Jan 2005 | sloan said...

What about the Underground map? The main one is for commuters that know where they are going, there is an inset one as well for central London that is geographic based more like the NYC map for wayfinding.

26 Jan 2005 | Darrel said...

isn't that a given?

NOTHING is a 'given' in tech support. ;o)

26 Jan 2005 | Stephen said...

Slaon: sorry, I just see a tube map style diagram simplifying it all, removing the 3rd dimension, clarifing the relationship between the 5 components. Maybe I'm wrong.

26 Jan 2005 | monkeyinabox said...

That user might have power to the system, but the keyboard and mouse aren't plugged in (let alone the monitor). Good luck using that cable modem or booting up!

26 Jan 2005 | Carl said...

First time poster long time reader:
At the agency I work for we recently tried to pitch a simplified instruction/setup for Compuserve, but was for dial up service. (the annoying AOL type mailers!)

The approach we chose were simple illustrations in an organized step sequence.

I've never understood what posesses people who illustrate technical instructions forcing everything into 1 large image, with arrows and alphanumeric bubbles crossing paths.

Maybe our apporach isn't the answer either, but I feel its a step in the right direction.

26 Jan 2005 | lisa said...

gosh, that's almost as messy as the cord heap i have going on behind my machine -- it's not very effective, but at least it's realistic :)

26 Jan 2005 | BradNelson said...

I'm with Jamie. No need for power chords in this diagram.

26 Jan 2005 | noah said...

What I want to know is *why* they wanted to merge two diagrams (step-by-step and wiring overview) into one. Because it looks like they failed.

26 Jan 2005 | David said...

Jamie: while I was at college I saw someone who plugged an outlet strip into itself and wondered why their computer wasn't starting. That's why they included the outlet strip in the drawing.

26 Jan 2005 | SACK-U said...

I w3ant to know how you plug the C Cat 5 cable into the E optional USB port

26 Jan 2005 | John said...

SACK-U: With great determination.

26 Jan 2005 | sloan said...

When I was in college I was in charge of internet hookups in the dorms... soooo many people jamming ethernet cords into phone jacks! one guy "installed" his ethernet card by just putting it into his tower... he never put it in a slot, it was just floating around in the machine! or the guy who didn't plug the power cord in! and this was at an Ivy League school proving that: "intelligence" is a hard thing to quantify and that what is obvious to one person is not to another.

26 Jan 2005 | Jamie said...

Just reading through these comments (power cords/floating ethernet cards) makes me realize just how difficult it is for "laypeople" to understand. Hard to believe but true. It's just like that urban legend "cup holder" story. No wonder Media Center PCs or even TiVos don't have a higher adoption rate. "DVI, Coaxial, Optical, S-Video, Analog Phone Line, and ... Power"!? Jeebus. And connecting the power cord to a wall socket is the seemingly easy part!

26 Jan 2005 | Dan said...

Well imho that map isn't too bad... there is no intersection of lines that is covered by a bubble (which would confuse where a line was going) and each of the lines has some sort of visual difference to it (width usually) making it easier to track the line.

Could it better? Absolutely!
Is it completely unusable? Nope.

27 Jan 2005 | runtime said...

If Power Strip 'H' was drawn above the cable modem, then there would be no crossed. cables Anyways, don't they know not to cross the beams??

27 Jan 2005 | duff said...

This is one reason why the ipod is so successful. Modern computing is a mess of cords and ports and features and options. Simplicity sells.

27 Jan 2005 | Eric said...

The reason that the power strip would not be drawn above everything else is that it spatially shows a typical layout. Power strips sit on the floor. Cable modems often sit on a desk/table. The PC itself might be on either surface.

29 Jan 2005 | Chris said...

Can you have Road Runner if you don't have a power strip? And in any case, why does this diagram need a power strip since there appears to be a wall socket free! I am truly aghast at this diagram.

02 Feb 2005 | david said...

Perhaps the reason they drew the power strip was that they felt it was important that the modem be plugged into a surge protector?