RE: Notes, tips, and warnings... oh my!

["Christensen, Kent" <lkchris -at- sandia -dot- gov>]

re:  ... I feel the real reason we have instructions and warning notes is
for the lawyers ...

Welcome to our culture, where we have this self preservation instinct
implemented by law making.  I like it.

Notes can be out of control for sure, but in a particular situation it's
usually pretty clear you can either break the equipment or injure yourself
or not, and the user needs to know ...  if for no other reason than you'd
like to retain him/her as a customer.

Envision this:  let's say we remove the audible warning buzzer from your
carbon monoxide detector and replace it with a tachograph that continuously
indicates the level.  Isn't this analogous to "incorporate the warning in
the text?"

I say unless your product has the intelligence to determine that you are
using it in a way that will break it or injure you and then provide you with
an audible warning or the like, make the warning/caution as visible as
possible in the instructions.


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