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Subject:TW Perceptions From:Rob Miller <Miller_Robert_C -at- 90 -dot- DEERE -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 1 Oct 1996 07:53:59 -0500
Donna wrote:
*snip*
> ... He sounded like I had told him I had gone to med school, law
> school and was working as a janitor...
Lay persons' perceptions of technical writing are colored (negatively)
for several reasons: There's the old joke about the clocks on the VCR
machines and I believe there's a deeper concern that, as technical
writers, we have one of the most difficult jobs combining writing and a
knowledge of some esoteric practice such as computing. Most persons
that we come in contact with just don't get it -- it being the
complexity of the work we do.
I agree that technical writing is the best job, IMHO. I've worked as a
radio disc - jockey while in college and I've been in engineering and
sales. Technical writing is an important and necessary function in a
product development, production, and sales environment. Unfortunately,
most persons don't realize that documentation is the first line of
communication in our highly technical world society.
