Re: This too is technical communication

[Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>]

Caroline Tabach wrote:
> Another difference (or reason) in my opninion is that many companies
> (ours for instance) are not longer actully printings books
> This means they are no longer spending a lot of money printing .

Yes, and the same has to be said for having writers without editors, 
designers, and so on.

> So if
> there is a mistake, no problem, edit the html page again tommorow
> Tthe main thing is to get something out the door for that certain
> customer and well, we can generate a new and hopefully better PDF
> tommorow
 
This rhetorical question that begs to be asked:  Given a choice, would 
you choose to work as an old fashioned tech writer or a contemporary 
one?  I guess you could frame this as a blue tech writer (old fashioned) 
or red (contemporary).

>
> On 6/7/07, Condo, Candis <ccondo -at- c-cor -dot- com> wrote:
>> This is the same company (IBM) that back in the late 80s did a
>> page-by-page review of a Reference Manual I prepared for a complex
>> software product. The manual was a strong selling point.
>>
>> I don't think any company pays that close attention to product doc
>> today. I have not worked for such a company in, oh, 5 years. The short
>> cycle environment has eliminated a lot of careful review of all aspects
>> of the product. Until the consumer screams big time, I don't see this
>> situation changing.
>>
>> Candis Condo
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: techwr-l-bounces+ccondo=c-cor -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+ccondo=c-cor -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
>> Of Ned Bedinger
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 4:05 PM
>> To: Caroline Tabach
>> Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> Subject: Re: This too is technical communication
>>
>> I'd bet that the quality of the result was no fluke, but is proof that
>> they understood the process that yields quality results.  I'd guess that
>>
>> the engineering work was very orderly, and the documentation proceeded
>> alongside of it.  I agree with you that they probably did not work in
>> the short cycle environment that some of us work in today.
>>
>>
>> Caroline Tabach wrote:
>> > With all due respect,
>> > I bet they did not have a deadline (or at lest not the type of
>> > deadline we seem to work to)
>> > and they were probably only documenting one "application" at a time.
>> > Times have changed
>> >
>> > On 6/5/07, Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com> wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> .
>> >>
>> >> I have some typewriter repair manuals that are gems of technical
>> >> writing--the tech writer and illustrator created lucid overviews,
>> >> problem descriptions, and procedures. They obviously worked very
>> closely
>> >> with the engineers, and the engineers obviously knew how to approach
>> the
>> >> typewriter as a comprehensible bunch of systems. The editors knew the
>> >> subject and checked the content carefully. The book designers did an
>> >> exceptional job in laying out the pages, and the publishers put it
>> all
>> >> in a hole-punched lay-flat binding on paper that withstands years of
>> >> usage in the shop.
>> >>
>> >> .......... The manuals were a
>> >> big selling point in the marketing of these typewriters by a company
>> >> that was known as a salesman's company--I'm describing the manuals
>> for
>> >> the IBM Selectric.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>>
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>

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