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Subject:Re: The Writer's Kit From:John Posada <posada -at- FAXSAV -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 5 Jan 1998 16:09:18 -0500
I was one who responded to Jim's message last evening, so I'd like to contribute a little to this discussion.
Granted that a writer cannot own everything. In my case, I OWN all but one of the first group, 2 of the second group and the first two of the third group (you forgot the whole web/html category). Granted, it is a sizeable collection to keep up to date. However, it's part of the territory and it's also part of my monthly budget ($200 per month toward software).
The ones I don't own are applications that I have never been asked to do work in. However, there is no question that should I take on an assignment, I take it on with the understanding that I will purchase all of the applications I need to do the job (if I cannot build the price of the software purchase into the job, they are tax deductible as a business expense), or I don't DO the job. It is my responsibility as a professional to produce the output that my clients request.
It is not that difficult a concept. If the customer specifies a particular output, do it or don't do it. Nobody likes walking away from work, but if you cannot do it, you cannot do it.
John
-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willebeek-LeMair [SMTP:jlemair -at- ITEXCHSRV2 -dot- PHX -dot- MCD -dot- MOT -dot- COM]
Sent: Monday, January 05, 1998 3:34 PM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Re: The Writer's Kit
Andrew,
Actually, I think Jim clarified his question to mean what should the
contractor physically have or own, not just have knowledge of.
For example, would it be reasonable to suggest that TWs not only have
knowledge of but also own their own copies of:
FrameMaker
PageMaker
Word (in various incarnations)
Wordperfect
WordPro
Quark
Plus, don't forget the graphics
Corel
Designer
Visio
ABC FlowCharter
PhotoShop
etc.
And any other miscellaneous programs
Microsoft Project
Acrobat Distiller
DynaWeb
etc.
That would be quite a sizable investment, which could possibly be worth
it if you did not have to keep pouring money into it to keep it current.
And it probably would not be worth the money if you only had to use
PageMaker once every several years.
So, I guess the question is, what would be reasonable to expect a
contract writer to own? (Aside from the knowledge of how to use these
programs).
