drool-proof paper
n. Whimsical paper said to be used in electronic equipment manuals that are so dumbed-down and simplistic as to be of no use whatsoever.
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1994
Documentation that has been obsessively dumbed down i.e., simplified to the point where only a cretin someone who can't do anything right could bear to read it, is said to have succumbed to the "drool-proof paper syndrome" or to have been "written on drool-proof paper." For example, this is an actual quote from Apple's LaserWriter manual: "Do not expose your LaserWriter to open fire or flame."
—Robert L. Tennant, “The Computer Glossary,” Technical Communication, November 01, 1994
1991 (earliest)
It was in this world that "user friendly" was first translated to "dumbed down," where "drool-proof paper" was coined to describe documentation (computer hardware and software instructions) that had been dumbed down to the point where only a cretin could bear to read it.
—Clarence Peterson, “Paperbacks,” Chicago Tribune, December 01, 1991
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