In the good old days user manuals came as beautiful books numbering several hundred pages, in some cases they would come in a clip binder. For some they were compulsory bedtime reading or even read on the toilet and for others and unnecessary part of the packaging that gathered dust.

With the advent of downloadable software and the invention of the ubiquitous Adobe Acrobat PDF the same user manual became a download too. It meant no more shelves filled with user manuals, instant download of the manual (even before the product had arrived) and of course a reduction in paper use. Even better a well designed PDF means that you can search for the subject you need help on, a welcome addition when the manual runs into hundreds or thousands of pages.

But has the change in the way user manuals are created changed your use of them? Have you always been a die hard manual lover and still are? Or are the one of those people who think life is too short to read user manuals? Are you the one who everyone screams RTFM in user forums when you ask a question? Are you now Googling or visiting your favourite blog to find the answer?

We thought we would find out how much users manuals are still read, so take our poll and as ever we'd love to read your comments.