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I can't speak for a general perception, but as someone with quite a bit
of experience across the board in computing, this is what I see: the
role has upgraded, and technical writers have not, and so increasingly
we are seen as a marginal task (hire consultant to WTFM, then forget
about it).
My experience dictates that users actually need us more than ever
before, because with their increased knowledge, they want increased
abilities quickly, something current docs are rarely providing.
--- Milan Davidovic <shl_ctf -at- yahoo -dot- ca> wrote:
> --- Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> > I agree, and this is why I argue, repeatedly,
> > that technical writers must change their
> > role to be more inclusive or they will
> > become dinosaurs...
> > More needs to go into this job
> > or it will become a dinosaur.
>
> If I'm reading this correctly, there seems to be an
> idea implied here that the general perception of
> technical writing is becoming downgraded by a certain
> mass of tech writers not changing their roles, and
> that this downgrading of perception is making things
> more difficult even for those who have changed their
> roles (say, for example, when they move to new
> companies or get re-org'd).
>
> Have I got this right? I'm still at my first tech
> writing job (coming up on five years, and things keep
> getting better) so I don't have a clear idea of what
> it's like across the rest of the field.
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