-device. If the shell command produces any output, the output goes into
-an Emacs buffer named @samp{*Shell Command Output*}, which is displayed
-in another window but not selected. A numeric argument, as in @kbd{M-1
-M-!}, directs this command to insert any output into the current buffer.
-In that case, point is left before the output and the mark is set after
-the output.
+device. If the shell command produces any output, the output appears
+either in the echo area (if it is short), or in an Emacs buffer named
+@samp{*Shell Command Output*}, which is displayed in another window
+but not selected (if the output is long).
+
+ For instance, one way to decompress a file @file{foo.gz} from Emacs
+is to type @kbd{M-! gunzip foo.gz @key{RET}}. That shell command
+normally creates the file @file{foo} and produces no terminal output.
+
+ A numeric argument, as in @kbd{M-1 M-!}, says to insert terminal
+output into the current buffer instead of a separate buffer. It puts
+point before the output, and sets the mark after the output. For
+instance, @kbd{M-1 M-! gunzip < foo.gz @key{RET}} would insert the
+uncompressed equivalent of @file{foo.gz} into the current buffer.