Terrible Advice from the Mac Plus Manual!

[Scott Baret]

I came across the manual for the Mac Plus in my closet today and flipped through it just for kicks.

On page 149, the following text gave me a good chuckle...I quote exactly from the manual here...

"It's fine to keep your Macintosh Plus switched on even when you're not using it. It uses very little electricity (about the same as a 60-watt light bulb), and it makes a fine night light."

The paragraph then goes on to caution about turning down the brightness to prevent burn-in. Immediately after that, in red text, is a warning against removing the cover from the main unit.

We all know the Plus has a fragile power supply due to its lack of a fan. I wonder if Apple wrote this advice to keep their repair techs in business? Power supply/analog board issues aside, Pluses are usually pretty sturdy. Seriously, using a CRT monitor as a night light?

There are some other funny bits in the manual, too, including a suggestion to store the computer in a bookcase as long as it's not there when it's on, how it "probably won't survive a cup of coffee spilled into it", and that you can "never hurt your Macintosh Plus by clicking in the wrong place". These are all just on page 149 alone!!

Citation: ​Macintosh Plus. Apple Computer, Inc, 1986.

 

[longlivelavey]

Nice! I wish more software manuals were written like that today. It might make the letters RTFM a thing of the past.

 

[Concorde1993]

The original Macintosh manual has the same "advice" as well. I guess you could run these Macs as night-lights with a proper screen-saver.

It's still not as bad as my Chrysler service manual, which says my Ultradrive can use Dextron additives if Mopar ATF is not available. 

 

[Carboy7]

 it makes a fine night light.

Wait, that is what it actually says? HAH! :lol:

Even better, max the brightness and rest your hand on the CRT. Remove the anode cup and poke the CRT with a metal fork. While sleeping.

Can't hurt, right?

 

[ScutBoy]

C'mon - when Apple released the initial Macs they didn't _know_ they had a fragile power supply - that was found out over time when there were thousands of machines in the field.

Just maybe there was some thought before release that the components could have been better, etc. but they had a schedule and a price point to hit. For most consumer products, you engineer it to be "just good enough" and maybe a bit more.

 

[olePigeon]

That's why screen savers exist, to prevent burnin.

 

[Macdrone]

also fanny pack fans made it a more true option, and easier to turn off if you wanted.

 

[TheWhiteFalcon]

People didn't collect computers back then. Apple's expected service life was probably a couple years at most.