No phone or similar type gadget that I've purchased in the last few years has come with a user guide. At best I've seen a quick start guide.
I've never felt the need for a user guide, with what is a standard sort of phone UI, Sailfish took seconds to pick up.
Anything else is right there on the web.
Really don't see any need for a user guide, at least for my requirements.
You may not but I'm sure there are many that would benefit from a proper user guide. I've never used a smart phone or an android phone or Linux, so a user guide to the machine itself would have certainly been helpful at the start when the Gemini arrived. It has taken me a month to get even reasonably conversant with it, and there are still things I don't really understand. (just one example: why is there a physical keyboard AND virtual keyboard and what is the correct set up. We have a physical keyboard so I don't see a need for a virtual one...) I am also a person who reads manuals before diving in and causing problems through guesswork, or trial & error. I worked in the motor trade for years and always read all the manuals cover to cover, and consequently knew how every feature worked - which we needed to know as owners rarely read them and then got in such a mess which we had to sort out. They also never knew lots of things their cars were capable of, even when selling them a few years later! (and when you explained things they often stated they wish they'd known from the start)
I've seen the same thing with computers in general and no doubt it is even worse with smart phones. Most owners won't know half of what they can do if they understood what they'd bought. Companies update software and change the OS so often that people haven't even found what the old version could do before it gets changed! What's the saying '90% of owners don't know or use 90% of their computers'.
I've been using my Psions for over 25 years in total and still occasionally refer to the manual when I've forgotten something.
I've also had to feed back to a manufacturer when their manual has been incorrect or mis-leading, so whilst they are important, you should be careful never to trust them entirely if it doesn't seem right. Experience will often tell you when they have something wrong, and needs correcting.
I would be happy with a pdf version, and these make more sense anyway since they can be corrected, updated or modified quicker and easier, as well as being cheaper to get them to the owners. And when the first owner has 'lost' or ruined the original, at least the subsequent owner can download another copy.
