But that's not the world we live in. Which is why users need guides.
A well-written guide does more than instruct—it demonstrates respect for the user... the kind of respect that can go viral. Not only that, the creation of the guide itself can aid in the program development. A savvy tech writer is also a de facto beta tester, and when you try to tell a user how to operate a program, its quirks and flaws tend to jump off the screen—and into the bug tracker bin... before release.
What it comes down to this: Do you want to help your users succeed?
We do.