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Subject:Re: Re[2]: Understanding v. instruction From:Mc Jdub <wigginje -at- PSSCH -dot- PS -dot- GE -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 30 Jun 1997 09:54:14 -0400
> Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com wrote:
>
> Let's take another example: I go buy a bandsaw blade. Now, this can
> come
> with a varying amount of information, from detailed instructions to
> "refer
> to your band saw owner's manual for instructions on changing the
> blade."
> The point is, no matter *how* detailed the instructions are, they
> won't
> help me. I'm going to take the blade home, cut it into sections and
> use the
> sections in my bow saw. The information the manufacturer includes is
> irrelevant to my use the product.
??? And if I use my windows CD for a coaster, I don't need an
instruction manual, either. I think you're skewing the debate with a
specious argument here. With a little imagination, anything at all can
be used for just about anything at all. We're talking about what, in
general of course, the product is designed for -- its "intended use." To
talk about what someone *might* do with a product aside from that (or
something close) is basically irrelevant to the discussion. Someone
might do anything.
>
> So clearly the information is more important than the product,
> right?
>
> Wrong. All the information in the world isn't going to stop that
> drip-drip-
> drip in the middle of the night. You could make a case for the product
> being no more important than the information, but it's hardly less
> important.
>
This is a good point. In practice, it looks like the truth of the matter
lays somewhere in between two extremes. But to improve the standing of
technical communicators in whatever arena, the importance of what we do
needs to be seriously re-evaluated by industry (as industry drives
public opinion, as well). I think emphasizing the primacy and
importance of "information" (in all the ways Elna is using the term) as
a commodity *in and of itself* is one good way to do this.
Jeff Wiggin
wigginje -at- pssch -dot- ps -dot- ge -dot- com
======================================================
The opinions expressed above are not necessarily my own, but have been
generated randomly from cross-currents of available discourse.
======================================================
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