Re: Powerpoint is overkill for manuals!

[John Posada <john -at- TDANDW -dot- COM>]

I posted a message before on how it might be possible to create a technical document
using PowerPoint, including examples of why the person may requested this application.

Several responses were generated from that stating how other tools have this matching
capability or that capability, based on my examples.

That wasn't my point.  My point was that we know nothing of the details, the motivation,
the user community, the type of documentation, the delivery, the yada, yada, yada...yet
it has pretty much been detirmined that the tool is the wrong tool.

technical manual + PowerPoint = garbage output

Isn't that comparable to basing the qualification of the writer by what tools they use
instead of the qualification of the writer? (and we know we would NEVER do that, right?)

I don't recall anyone posing a very simple question to the person posting the original
message, yet declaring that PP was the wrong tool...

WHY?

If I don't ask developers at my company that question at LEAST 3 times in a day, I
didn't do my job to the best of my ability.



> > justification for doing it this way, like maybe wanting to create run-time
> > versions for distribution on diskette? Maybe for use as a training piece for
> > seminars?
>
> Although the thought of using PP to write a professional manual seems
> disproportionate (kinda like steering the Titanic away from the iceberg with a canoe
> paddle), I could see how you might think it's a good idea if you wanted to use the
> animation capabilities of a slide show as a training tool.
>
> However, Word (and probably Framemaker) allows you to insert multimedia
> clips/objects into the document. Thus, you could add some multimedia stuff to your
> manual, and with a little creative tweaking, you could print the sucker out too!
> --

--
John Posada, Technical Writer
Bellcore, where Customer Satisfaction is our number one priority
mailto:john -at- tdandw -dot- com   mailto:jposada -at- notes -dot- cc -dot- bellcore -dot- com
My opinions are mine, and neither you nor my company can take credit for
them.
  "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish,
and he will sit in a boat and smoke cigars all day."
  "The only perfect document I ever created is still on my hard drive."


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