RE: Video vs The Written Word

["Sarah Bouchier" <Sarah -dot- Bouchier -at- exony -dot- com>]

>The fact is this.  If you want it done, it can be done

Well, yes, most things can.  The question is, as always, the
time/effort/investment it takes relative to its utility.  And getting
your boss to sign off on new tools because the existing tools don't
really allow for indexing (actually, if someone can tell me how to index
a Captivate flash movie I'll be a happier woman) counts in that effort.

>I just simply do what the client pays me to do.  If it's not
>something anyone else wants to do, then that's okay!

Arguing doesn't work so well when nobody is taking the other side, you
know :)

Nobody has claimed that we should never use video.  We have only said
that it's not suitable for all information transfer (after all, what
is?) and warned of some of the difficulties that should be considered.

I don't, incidentally, simply do what my employers pay me to do.  As
their expert in technical communication, I consider it my job to tell
them when they really /don't/ want me to do the thing they've just asked
for.

>As for video being a "new" technology???  Hello?

The technology obviously isn't new, but its increasing application to
technical authoring is.  The challenges and considerations facing
technical communicators differ quite radically from those facing John
Logie Baird.

If my bosses asked me to convey the workings of the product through
interpretive dance I'd consider that a 'new technology' as well, though
dance has been around even longer than video.

S.

PS.  And I'd probably say no ;)

Sarah Bouchier
Technical Author
exony

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