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Subject:Re: Try selling the sizzle of what you do From:"CB Casper" <knowone -at- surfy -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 19 Feb 2003 20:34:44 -0800
Another story, really behind on digests,
but here it is anyway. Sometimes the sizzle
allows the Pointed Headed Bosses to showcase
their cluelessness.
Started with an aerospace company creating
instructions, with technical drawing, using
pencil paper, photocopiers, and taping
components onto pre-printed pages. This was
in 1986. After a couple of weeks, I found
a Mac sitting in a corner not being used.
I started drawing using MacDraw for the graphics,
but then quickly progressed to duplicating the
pre-printed pages within MacDraw as well. The end
result was a completely computer generated document
with clean graphics, legible text, and no fuzzy
contents.
This was formatting only, no change to the content.
The content remained the same, but it was legible,
and no stray dots on the page to confuse with the
decimals on drawing callouts.
It also allowed us to change the pre-formatted
drawing default to a much more useful design,
when the existing pile of pre-prints ran out.
The users loved it, the inspectors loved it, and
most importantly, the customer (Air Force)
loved it too. I heard one say, "Wow, you can do
this with a computer?"
The PHB found out, and promptly went out
and bought a bunch of PC's. Great, but he
neglected to determine what or if there was
a graphics application available. We ended
up with GEM Draw. I continued to use the Mac
until the other department, who owned it,
kicked me off and moved the machine elsewhere.
A few years later we grew up and got a real drawing
program included within Interleaf, and left
GEM where it always belonged, in the dumpster.
The same PHB resisted the move to UNIX/Interleaf too.
CB - who eventually got layed off by that same PHB
after 12 years of his cluelessness
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