Re: Recommended Applications

[Brad Mehlenbacher <brad_m -at- UNITY -dot- NCSU -dot- EDU>]

Hi Application Recommenders-->

I've been following this strand for some time now, and it occurs to me
that it's inevitable that such a topic--what word processor/desktop
publishing publishing software should I use?--is bound to invite tons of
comments about this feature, that feature, and this customizable gem that
I need once a month. However, if we intend to build a taxonomy of features
that we require versus features that are nice to have versus features
that, in the future, might be useful given the inevitable move to online
documentation, then it seems to me we need to stop talking about software
and start talking about users and the tasks they perform.

Surely PageMaker, FrameMaker, Interleaf, Ventura, QuarkXpress, MS Word,
WordPerfect, DECWriter, VU, Xedit, and so on, only meet our needs as
writers when we decide it's appropriate that we spent thousands of
person-hours learning the in's and out's of their particular interfaces
and features?!?

Let's develop a taxonomy that focuses on use, not on technology.

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>> Brad Mehlenbacher         Phone:     (919) 515-4138           <<
>> Assistant Professor       Fax:       (919) 515-7856           <<
>> Technical Communication                                       <<
>>                           E-mail:    brad_m -at- unity -dot- ncsu -dot- edu    <<
>> English Department                                            <<
>> NC State University       "We need fewer words." NT Executive <<
>> Raleigh, NC 27695-8105    on producing better documentation.  <<
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