Who else tends to

Guilty. Because I try to be a musician first (when I get time to play) and not get caught up in the tech end. I want to know just enough to get the sounds I need to express myself, get back to coming up with good music, and get far away from my day gig as a software dev...Individual results may vary.

I usually try to watch YouTube, or any, videos while I'm waiting for the product to arrive. Usually gives me a running start vs. setting down with a manual/paper and trying to understand some translation. I've found that quite a few of the manuals leave me with several unanswered questions.

I don't generally read the instructions before diving in, but I always look through things eventually. And I don't like products that are impossible to use unless you read the instructions first. 
 
And with SW I make a point of going through every menu, submenu and all the configuration options early on just to see what's there. Even if it's not useful right away, it will ring a bell down the road when I kind of remember that there's something that does what I now need buried somewhere in one of the menus.

Kalle Rantaaho
Not guilty. For example purchasing software like SONAR, I read the whole manual before installing the software.

Whoa! I'm just not that patient!

No time! I was actually looking at a folder I have with pdf manuals in it, and mostly for software. There are ~6000 pages there, and I am a slow reader. If I actually read them, I would get nothing done with the current version! LOL

I used to be just like the US Congress.... dive right in before you read the thing......
 
Instruction manuals were for wimps and road maps and asking directions were for sissies..... real men didn't do that.
 
So, I must admit, for me, that times have changed.  After assembling a number of items and getting almost finished without looking at the instructions, and feeling that manly rush of pride in doing a job well......then realizing that the next part won't fit because another part that did fit earlier, was installed incorrectly and I had to disassemble the entire whatever it was I was putting together so get it right, while my wife just rolled her eyes and left the room mumbling to herself something about men and instructions..... well, yeah, after about the 100th episode like this, I kinda started reading the manuals first. I discovered that actually reading the manual is good for taking up the better part of 30 minutes to an hour if done correctly, usually with a beer and some sort of snack, thereby postponing the inevitable chore of assembling that dang thing for as long as possible.
 
As far as road maps...... hey, all I can say is I still don't use them.... but I will use my GPS to go to the store around the corner where I have been one thousand times before.  I certainly don't want to get lost.

It depends on the item.  I always never read software manuals.  I HAD to read my Zoom R24 manual just to learn how to get a sound out of it.  I watched every Melodyne video I could find (some are good/bad).  
 
I DID have to read the extremely lame manual that came with my new all digital car stereo unit.  I still haven't figured out how to set radio presets!  
 
Rimshot

I first will try to figure out what I can without directions, then I look at the table of contents and read what I can't understand. Saves some time and still puts me on the right track. 
 
I think many would agree here- We only tend to use a part of whatever it is. Not many use every single feature on something. I highly doubt that you got very excited with the oboe sound in that Casio.