No subject

American customers get confused by the all-in-one approach. They have
now moved to a Getting Started guide and a reference manual. This
approach is quite common in computer software; I am doing something like
this right now myself.

When I write for developers, I do put in a Getting Started/Architecture
guide. I also write up all the procedures, and provide a reference
guide. Very often, the reference guide is in the form of
context-sensitive help. I don't repeat much information, but then again
my documentation is basically electronic.

In a print world, the best idea would be to summarize the basics in the
reference/procedures guide as well. So you would have

* Getting started: hardware setup, software installation, intro to
photography, basic picture
  taking
* Procedures: detailed steps for setting everything up
* Reference: specs, features, glossary, index

Not all manuals are perfect. I applaud Canon for at least getting to the
point they're at now. Modern digital cameras offer an incredible set of
features, many more than the most sophisticated film camera I ever
owned. Ironically, digital cameras have nearly wiped out the demand for
film cameras, *including* the simple, no-options disposable cameras that
people used to rely on. You now have the mass market of snapshot-takers
trying to work with cameras that are more complicated than those a pro
photographer used thirty years ago!

Joe


Joe Malin
Technical Writer
(408)625-1623
jmalin at tuvox.com=20
www.tuvox.com
The views expressed in this document are those of the sender, and do not
necessarily reflect those of TuVox, Inc.=09

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=3Dtuvox.com at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jmalin=3Dtuvox.com at lists.techwr-l.com] On =
Behalf
Of Jessica Weissman
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 5:55 AM
To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: canon camera user doc style

I bought a new Canon camera over the weekend.  The camera is a complex
marvel that lets me take better pictures than my old camera did, but
that's not what we're interested here.