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Subject:Re: Once you get Intuit you Can't Get Out From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 1 Feb 1997 07:20:44 PST
Stephen Victor writes:
>If you were writing for a novice audience you might well need to
>document inserting a CD into a drive.
I'd be curious to see such an example that fits within the specified
context of "documentation for an application program." And, if you're
gonna tell 'em how to use one necessary bit of hardware, how do you
justify omitting proper use of the mouse, the on/off switch, and the
degaussing button on the monitor? Certainly many users could benefit
from a course in touch-typing as well. And no doubt their posture,
office layout, and clothes sense could use a little brushing up.
But one should stick to the essentials. When you write a software
manual, you should not also write a hardware manual on the off-chance
that the user's dog ate the one that came with the hardware. And
there's no point putting information in a manual if the user would
never think to look for it there.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
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