TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Help without manuals From:Tom Murrell <trmurrell -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 5 Nov 2001 04:45:55 -0800 (PST)
--- Erika Yanovich <ERIKA_y -at- Rad -dot- co -dot- il> wrote:
> Dear collegues,
>
> Lately I see more and more companies (SW manufacturers) shipping their
> products with on-line help only and no manual. You cannot even order manuals
> separately, as they don't write/produce them anymore. Is this common
> practice? Can we also stop writing them (we manufacture mostly HW and some
> network management SW for the HW) without looking weird?
Certainly in the commercial software industry, led by Microsoft, I see a
tendency not to include any manual documentation with products. In these cases,
the only documentation available from the companies is online help. All other
documentation has to be purchased separately, sometimes from the company but
increasingly from 3rd parties writing manual documentation and tutorial type
documentation for sale separately.
Can YOU do it, too? Well, that get's you the standard TECHWR-L answer: it
depends. You need to survey your audience. Find out how they learn how to use
your products, where they go for answers to questions, what they use to
troubleshoot any problems they have with your products (or, since I'm sure your
products are trouble-free <g>, where they would go if they did have a problem).
Just because more in the industry are moving in that direction doesn't mean
that you can do it in your market.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Find a job, post your resume. http://careers.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Be a published author! iUniverse gives you: a high-quality paperback, a
custom cover design, and distribution to 25,00 retailers. Join our almost
10,000 published authors today. http://www.iuniverse.com/media/techwr
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
