Reading the manual

[Techno Commander]

I realise that as blokes, the manual usually either never gets removed from the cellophane, or promptly gets thrown in the recycle bin. However, by doing this, you are missing out of some literary gems.

The American company Crown, which is widely known for producing high end monster PA amps, employed some of the most talented & creative writers ever to be let loose with a spec sheet and a typewriter.

Here are some of their classics.

DC 300 Service Manual (http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/dc300-sm.pdf)
The first 6 pages are epic. Then it starts to get technical.

BF-6000 Amplifier (http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/belchfire_datasheet.pdf)
This didnt really exist. They just produced a spec sheet and handed them out at a trade show. Surprisingly, people actually tried to place orders. Obviously, they hadnt read everything.:lol:

[Ali Tait]

Can't get the first one to open,but the second one is brilliant!

[Techno Commander]

It does open, but takes a while.

[MartinT]

I really miss my long lost copy of a C-Itoh printer service manual (the 600, I think). It had an introductory page written in the most hilarious Jap-lish imaginable. I can only remember that the printer itself was referred to as an 'artificial mammoth creature'. The rest was similar.

One can only assume that the translation went through a number of different languages.

[mharper42]

Martin, this phrase did not refer to the printer itself. Rather, the tech writer of the C.Itoh-600 printer manual introduction page, said: "We sincerely expect that the PRINTER CI-600 will be appreciated more than ever, in the fields of 'data-transformation' by means of human scale, and the subsequent result of 'fluent metabolism' as regards the artificial mammoth creature -- systematized information, within the up-to-date human society."

So the phrase refers to "systematized information" which could be translated as Information Management.

This famous example of poor translation was cited in a CompSci PhD dissertation in 2001. I don't have the manual itself, but somewhere in a box of old papers, I have a photocopy of that introduction and possibly a few other examples.

To me, the most curious phrase is 'fluent metabolism' -- I have no clue what was meant by that.

[WAD62]

Magnificent, very pythonesque :lol:

[Rare Bird]

I love manuals i always read after i get shut of the item..

[MartinT]

Martin, this phrase did not refer to the printer itself. Rather, the tech writer of the C.Itoh-600 printer manual introduction page, said: "We sincerely expect that the PRINTER CI-600 will be appreciated more than ever, in the fields of 'data-transformation' by means of human scale, and the subsequent result of 'fluent metabolism' as regards the artificial mammoth creature -- systematized information, within the up-to-date human society."

So the phrase refers to "systematized information" which could be translated as Information Management.

This famous example of poor translation was cited in a CompSci PhD dissertation in 2001. I don't have the manual itself, but somewhere in a box of old papers, I have a photocopy of that introduction and possibly a few other examples.

To me, the most curious phrase is 'fluent metabolism' -- I have no clue what was meant by that.

Hi Marilyn

You're the first person in years to recognise that! I was doing it from memory as I have long lost that manual. If you have a photocopy of the intro, please would you send me a PDF? I'd love to read it again. Nostalgic, for an engineer who used to have to make sense of it.

[MartinT]

Also, Marilyn, would you mind popping into the Welcome area and introducing yourself? Tell us a little about your system and what you listen to. Thanks!