RE: Another quote

["Beth Agnew" <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>]

True, but I think we've also seen a bubble effect, where the "pig in the
python" is moving along the technical sophistication continuum. When there
has been a burst of new technology and/or applications of technology, we've
needed a larger pool of technical writers to document everything but
especially end user stuff. As that demand recedes because of more
knowledgeable end users, the techwriters have to move into different areas,
as you say, such as documenting (and even doing) QA, support, service,
manufacturing, and so on. We have to follow that bulge, wherever it goes, or
risk being out of work.

We could see the wave of web applications get closer and broader with every
passing day; how many of us started to hone our web content skills? If we
don't grab that professional space, the designers and developers will have
to fill the gap, and they will do so poorly because content writing is only
a sideline for them. This last wave of technology is now consuming fewer
technical people as well, so outplaced programmers are accepting work as
quasi-documenters.

The market will go looking for the kind of professional we tell them we are,
when there are those kinds of jobs to be done. Our problem is that half the
time, we can't even define it ourselves.
--Beth

-----Original Message-----
From: Gene Kim-Eng [mailto:techwr -at- genek -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 5:41 PM
To: Beth Agnew; TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Another quote



But how do these "cycles" impact the market for technical writers?
All the aspects you describe have always needed to be documented,
if not in end user instructions, then for installation, service,
manufacturing,
QA, etc., etc., instructions.  The only thing that has changed over the
years with the technical sophistication of the end user is which volume
in the overall product document set you place a given bit of information.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message -----
From: "Beth Agnew" <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca>
> 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.




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