Re: Tools of the Trade

["Robert Daffin" <daffin -at- mediaone -dot- net>]

Kent,

I wanted to take a moment to reply, with a bit more brevity, this time!

:)

"Christensen, Kent" <lkchris -at- sandia -dot- gov> wrote in message
news:<80840 -at- techwr-l>...

> This is all well and good and is repetitive of much that has been written
> here many times before and which will likely and unfortunately be repeated
> again and again.  And I agree with it, but I'm tired of hearing about it
and
> suggest that the membership of this list is professional enough (and
> experienced enough) to be able to make its own decisions.

I am sorry that the continuing debate regarding tools bores you.  I would
say, though, that those out there that are contemplating the purchase of a
professional DTP tool are not considering a nominal expense--in other words,
the choice of a new documentation tool is not one to be taken lightly.  Were
I in that position, I would seek such input from my fellow writers regarding
what they are using, and how they are using it.

> I might also add a "famous-last-words" caveat.  Remember when the IBM PC
> first came out?  It was the "computer for inexperienced users," wasn't it?
> They used it anyway and it worked for them and the product evolved rather
> significantly, wouldn't you agree?  The mass market generally rejects
> complexity, and more importantly, so do the truly technical.

Word's "ease of use" is the source of many problems for the intermediate
Word user (i.e., many tech writers).  The mass market does tend to reject
complexity, but how do you then explain the Windows registry, as opposed to
the old config.sys and autoexec.bat files back in the DOS days?  How do you
explain the fact that the Mac only holds roughly 10% of the personal
computer user base?  Macs have always been easier to use than IBM-compatible
PCs.

> Also, what's the deal with long documents?  Maybe that should be the next
> poll question.  And why is it always format-for-print? Given the power of
> the Internet and intranets and hypertext linking, it seems some sort of
HTML
> generator should enter the WORD/FRAME/your favorite debate as well.
> Everything one can read about how to do the web right says "keep it
short."
> Where I, at least, see technical writing going is not formatting for
> printing but web page creation.  There's plenty of technical content and
use
> of tools and need for professionals, just not page numbering and headers
and
> footers.

You have an excellent point--but, I would remind you that the conservative
consumer market out there still wants printed documentation.  Besides, our
docs at ACR generally end up as PDFs rather than HTML.  The HTML/ASP work I
have done on our intranet has all been done with a text editor.



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