TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: It shouldn't be that hard to write good doc, should it?
Subject:Re: It shouldn't be that hard to write good doc, should it? From:"Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:techwr-l Date:Tue, 20 Jan 2004 09:58:07 -0500
John Cornellier wrote:
> In the course of a discussion about Pogue's latest Missing Manual
> the following question was posted on Slashdot:
> "I've often wondered why we don't see more books of this
> caliber hitting the market. It shouldn't be that hard to write
> good documentation, should it?
Note that Panther (OSX 10.3.1, the subject of the book) was released Oct.
24... and OSX itself has been available for a long time. I guess that helps
answer this question from last week's "Doc Release" discussion:
> when do you make the last changes to the documentation?
> Take into account that there is not code freeze where I work.
> When do you say no more changes to be done?"
Not to take anything away from the book, but it certainly makes the
documentation task a lot easier if you have the luxury of choosing a stable
target. I'm sure the tech writers who were under the gun to release the doc
on Oct. 24 are excellent tech writers, too.