Recently, I was flipping through the electronic instruction manual on my iPad for the universal remote control for my television’s digital video recorder. Now, I like to think that most electronics are user-friendly and they should be usable right out of the box. However, that is age dependent – if you have older parents.

However, I digress. The DVR has served me well for the last year and I have been operating it in the most primitive of fashions – pressing buttons until I get what I want. The majority of the time, I can fumble my way through the buttons, as they are intuitive. I am able to search, record and flip through all of the digital channels.

A couple of days ago, the skip feature on the remote did not work, but I managed to liberate another unused remote control from my uncle. In reading through the electronic copy of the instruction manual on my iPad, I had an uh-huh moment.

Let me step back a bit. Before, I would have to turn on and off the television separately from the DVR. There was no quick start instructions so I believed that it was part of having a new DVR. However, in reviewing the electronic instruction manual, there was a feature which allows the user to program one button to turn both the TV and DVR, on and off. No separate buttons, anymore. The moral? Read the damn instruction manual…there is a reason they give you one.