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RE: The Wave of a TW's Future: (was RE: Tools & Technologies)
Subject:RE: The Wave of a TW's Future: (was RE: Tools & Technologies) From:anita legsdin <anita -dot- legsdin -at- watchmark -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 31 Oct 2001 14:55:06 -0800
I only get the digest, so pardon me if I'm late on this thread.
I, like other posters, have been around more years than I care to say. I
find it absolutely hilarious to see the progress:
(a) 20 years ago, we wrote technical papers and reports with NROFF or
TROFF, using dot commands and a plain text editor on a PDP-11.
(b) some years later, some companies decided it would be way easier to
have WYSIWYG editors. The first wave was dedicated word processors.
(c) the PC revolution hit. Now we're using Word/Word Perfect/etc. on a
desktop computer. Dot commands? Good riddance!
(d) the internet revolution hits. Now we have a new language: HTML
(e) We're back to (a), using a text editor and angle-bracket commands
instead of dot commands. Same diff. We swear by Notepad.
(f) go to step (b), only this time replace the dedicated word processors
with server-based applications.
My prediction? Repeat the same cycle, over and over.
As to the original question: our office has been using SGML and
structured documentation for the last year; I'm finally getting to the
point where I really like it, it's a good tool for enforcing consistency
among writers. But DocBook just doesn't cut it, it's a fairly loose
structure still. Investigate Information Mapping, and do hire a
professional to design the DTD.
--
"You don't get to choose how you're going to die, or when. You can only
decide how you're going to live now."
--Joan Baez
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