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On 12/30/00 7:18 PM, Bonnie Granat (bgranat -at- att -dot- net) quoted and wrote:
>>> The freshness of the "non-technical" person can provide him or her
>>>with an objectivity that more closely mirrors that of the TARGET of all
>>> our writing - the USER.
>>
>>This is akin to saying "I am a better writer because I remain ignorant."
>
>It's saying that if an end user is a nontechnical person, a nontechnical
>technical writer is a good test subject for the adequacy of documentation
>for nontechnical users and specifically, that a nontechnical technical
>writer is ideal to present technical information to nontechnical users.
That's exactly what I (and probably most people in this discussion)
understood the original quote to say. I also happen to think that's
nonsense, as I said in an earlier message.
A non-technical tech writer runs the risk of omitting important
information through ignorance. That's a serious risk that I, personally,
would not accept in myself or a writer working for me. Being
"non-technical" when writing about technical products is a big
disadvantage, and no nonsense about "freshness" can cover that up.
[snip]
>I hate to tell you this, but you are a disgusting liar. Nobody implied
>that the users care about the writer. What the hell are you smoking?
Ummm... I think you may have posted a private reply to the list. An
honest mistake, I'm sure, but you may want to watch out for that...
----->Mike
________________________________________________________________
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