Learn to say No. Was: The Tools Tech Writers Use

[Bernie McCann <BernieMc -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

Hi Max;

In a message dated 98-07-30 20:19:53 EDT, you write:

<<
 to me, it is quite obvious why suboptimal tools are used. The decision is
 not made by the people who actually work with the tools, but by
 beancounters or similar...

  >>

There is a little truth in what you say, but you have missed an important
point (or the original poster did).  MS Word is a "word processing"
application.  Adobe FrameMaker is the electronic publishing application.  Is
it not surprising, then, how many Word complaints are on the List.

If someone says that they enjoy driving the VW Beatle, but that it doesn't
plough corn fields very well.  What questions should be asked?  If you want it
to plough 4 rows at the same time, you just can't expect to write a new macro
for it.

If an aeronautical engineer was asked by management if he could build an
aircraft with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver, I'm sure that he would say
no, but if you check with the Experimental Aircraft Association, they'll tell
you that you could (generally speaking).

Sure, some managers can be tough with budgets (that's their job), but when
asked by management to provide a full range list of possible dtp applications
to purchase, how many writers unfortunately include MS Word.  If management
says, we already have MS Word, can we do dtp with it?  How many writers, et
al, say, I suppose so.  I rest my case (again).    ;-)

Bernie
Canada