...impersonating a technical writer...

["Jason A. Czekalski" <topsidefarm -at- mva -dot- net>]

Jim Hager <hhager -at- dttus -dot- com> wrote:

<< I've long ago determined that we (tech writers and everybody else in
     the computer business) are all flying by the seat of out pants. We
are
     all trying to figure it out as we go along. We are all
impersonating
     experts.>>

Well said. I agree with entire post. The high-tech industry is the
biggest bunch of BS artists on Earth. They have developed the SWAG
(scientific wild-a__ed guess) Principle to a level never attained
before.

But don't get me wrong, I'm not putting them down! I do very little work
in the computer industry. My specialty is manufacturing equipment. I
have an AS in computer science, but only because I believe that everyone
in business will eventually need CS as an Associates or a minor. This
combination of experience and education has allowed me to see the
hi-tech arena from a different viewpoint.

I compare today's hi-tech industries with the automotive industry prior
to the mid 1920's. Do you really think Henry Ford knew what he was
doing? HELL NO! He SWAG'd and got lucky. Him, the Dodge brothers,
Daimler, and many others applied known scientific and engineering
principles to the unknown. For everyone of them that guessed right,
scores guessed wrong. There were no experts. They were all way out on a
limb. As a result, the modern automobile is reliable, safe, and
efficient (relatively speaking, anyway).

The computer and other hi-tech equipment will develop along the same
route if given time. Someday, our kids and grandkids will look back on
all of this and chuckle, just as we do when we look back at some of the
early cars.

So lighten-up! Appreciate these times for what they are: the DAWN of the
information age. A time of great experimentation and growth. And best of
all, we are the folks who get to chronicle this insanity. Try to have
some fun with it.

Jason