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Subject:RE: Another quote From:"Beth Agnew" <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 19 Aug 2004 15:32:28 -0400
As with everything, the market for technical writers adjusts itself as our
audience changes. In this new (only since about 1980 for PCs) industry, our
audience first had to learn what the technology was, how it could help them,
and then how to use it. Then we focused on telling them how to do more, and
perform more complex tasks, with technology they were finally beginning to
understand. Recently, we've documented advanced, integrated systems, and the
policies for using such systems.
Today's documentation assumes a basic level of technical knowledge far
greater than that of even a few years ago. Elementary school children can
install and even configure a variety of applications, do advanced searches
on the Web, and get polished output.
Our role as technical writers will be to document the next thing -- whatever
that turns out to be. We can probably have some fun speculating about the
next technology wave.
These cycles have always occurred, we just never saw them until now. They
are happening so quickly due to the pace of change, we can now see the
entire life cycle during our careers.
--Beth
Beth Agnew
Professor, Technical Communication
Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology
416-491-5050 x3133
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