Re: Advocating Documentation and Support

[Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com]

Jeff Hanvey asked: <<should documentation be free or made a cost center?
How far would making users pay for documentation go toward making tech
writers more involved in the development process and gaining us the respect
of SME's?>>

My gut feeling is that making documentation an optional item with a
separate price tag would do two things:
(1) For people who believe documentation is just a frill and secondary to
the "real" product, this would confirm their belief. If we're not putting
it in the box with the product, we're saying the users don't really need
it.
(2) For users who rely on the manuals, this would be a source of
irritation. People grumble about having to go out and buy manuals for
products they already spent a pile of money on.  If, as a user, I had to
*pay* for documentation for the applications I use, I would be resentful,
especially if the documentation was anything less than perfect.

my 2 cents...
Christine


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