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Subject:Re: language and communication From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 27 Nov 2000 15:46:08 -0800
Pat Anderson wrote:
> I do worry, however, when we seem to take the viewpoint that words are always the best way of communicating. Sometimes they aren't.
Maybe it would be more accurate to say it's the main medium, not the
best one.
It's also true that, in technical docs, my words are far more
structured than they would be in fiction. The sentences and
paragraphs are shorter, and I break into bullets, tables, and lists
at the least possible excuse.
> I'm starting to see some non-verbal products of technical communication in areas I wouldn't have expected >them... for example, at http://www.quarry.com they have created a visual hardware setup for an HP workstation >that requires no translation, because it's word-free. (They won an STC award for it). That reduces the costs, >when you don't have to localize, and can print a much larger quantity.
I haven't seen this particular example, but, on past experience, I'm
reasonably certain that I would find it as hard to use as
instructions that contained nothing except dense text.
I guess that I'm just hopelessly literate. Pity me...
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com
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