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Comment by fmajid | Hacker News Reader

The first thing I do when I get any equipment is record the serial number, purchase price and date in a spreadsheet. Second thing is to download the PDF manual, and in the rare cases one is not available online, scan then recycle the paper manual.

If I ever become world leader, one of the first things I’ll order is for every product to be engraved or printed with a QR code leading to the specs and manual.

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The article is about the 90s, internet access was not a given scanners were expensive, QR codes as we know them didn't exist, and you may not have had a second computer to read the manual explaining why the first computer didn't work.

Also, manuals meant something. Nowadays paper manuals included with products are mostly legal stuff about all the things you can't do and limits on warranty. Maybe a quick start guide. But the actual manual is often not included.

That QR code will only work until the website gets redesigned, probably with the next fad.js

Or more likely, like with the Lidl story last week, the domain expires, gets bought by some spammer, and will host Chinese porn ads in perpetuity.

Presumably their second act as King Of The World will be to mandate the use of perpetual third-party hosting services. (e.g., A simple HTTPS host for static files that's run by the government and never deletes or moves a file.) Use of these services is required for sale of QR-labeled hardware.

Or mandatory registration with conservation authorities and copyright depositories like the Library of Congress, British Library, Biblothèque Nationale de France, etc.

A dream - the code contains a hash which identifies the file. Like ipfs + bittorrent.

What do you use to scan the books?

Edit: am apparently unable to type today.

The Google app on Android does a remarkably good job of image to pdf and text extraction.

Usually a Fujitsu ScanSnap document scanner after unstapling the manual and slitting the binding fold with a paper knife. Also scanner phone apps like Readdle Scanner Pro work very well for thick cardboard that won't feed through a scanner (I do have flatbeds but it's usually too much trouble to unpack them into my tiny home office).

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