RE: Midol Moment or National Tragedy? You decide...

["Backer, Corinne" <CBacker -at- glhec -dot- org>]

I found myself in the same boat when using the RoboHELP Office 7.0 manuals,
so I thought:
What if I had written these? (Probably under terrible time constraints with
less-than-helpful developers and SMEs, no peer editing available, no
usability results to see, and rapidly melting specs :D)

I decided:
I would want the feedback.

So I composed a friendly email in the "Just FYI, no offense" fashion to
RoboHELP and pointed out each of the typos I found, referencing specific
software version, book title, and page number.

I hope it was taken in the manner in which it was intended, and even if it
really pissed off some poor overworked TW, I got it off my chest and felt
productive.

My .02
Corinne

-----Original Message-----
From: Metzger Karen [mailto:Metzger_Karen -at- prc -dot- com]
Sent: Thursday, November 11, 1999 4:11 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Midol Moment or National Tragedy? You decide...


Dear Abby,

I am working my way through a marvelous manual of instruction in Visual
Basic for Microsoft Access. It lays its concepts out in logical order. Each
new idea builds on its predecessor. The language is simple, easy to
understand, even interesting. I feel as if the author is right here with me
and my confidence increases with each turn of a page. So why am I so
distraught?

Could it be that, without even looking for them, at least one typo PER PAGE
has reared its ugly head? That faux pas such as "You will see the same thing
in you code," "This system are affected," and "Be careful not to move to
quickly" are rampant? That somehow in recent years even book publishers seem
to be dispensing with editors as an unnecessary luxury?

Maybe it's just a personal problem. In the end it really shouldn't matter
whether words are spelled correctly or properly used, as long as everyone
understands what the writer means to say. After all, my friends who can't
spell have been telling me this since third grade.

Maybe their right. So what does it awl mean? Has the art dyed? Our proper
grammar and spelling like the bell-bottoms whose time has come and gone?
Should I start a national crusade against these Communist plot, or take
refuge in a new career--perhaps one that uses Visual Basic instead off
English?

Please advice.
Dreading Locusts and Wild Honey

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