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Subject:Re: Beliefs and passions- new job requirements From:Nicole Salisbury-Gaumont <nicole -dot- gaumont -at- gmail -dot- com> To:Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com> Date:Tue, 6 Nov 2012 10:42:00 +0000
Whilst sitting watching the BMX at the Olympics in August, we were told
that sport has the power to change the world. I don't think you need to be
a technical author to see how ridiculous that statement is, but it does
help.
"For me this is right up there with a feature that "allows" you to do x"
I disagree. A feature is created to enable a user to perform a task. If the
feature didn't exist, the user would be unable to perform the task. This is
just the way the English language works. In French, you would say 'using
this feature, you can do x'.
On 6 November 2012 10:33, Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com>wrote:
> A technical writer should not have ascribed ability to technology, since
> it's people who change the world (albeit by means of technology). Unused
> technology has no ability that I'm aware of. (If a computer started up in
> a forest and there was nobody there to log on, would Clippy make a sound?)
> For me this is right up there with a feature that "allows" you to do x...
> one of my pet peeves. Splitting hairs, you say? Well, it's a political
> issue... Pull out your ear-buds and listen to what the world really sounds
> like.
>
> ======= From Erika =======
> >From a current tech writing job opening at Google:
> "Googlers
> thrive in small, focused teams and high-energy environments, believe in
> the ability of technology to change the world, and are as passionate
> about their lives as they are about their work."
>
> I wonder if one of their tech writers phrased this.
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