Hi - One of my clients is moving to a model where they will provide a printed manual if the buyer requests it. The manual will be free to the buyer. Otherwise, everything will be distributed online. I don't know that they want to go public with this so can't provide the company name.
Pat On Sep 13, 2010, at 11:04 AM, Alison Craig wrote: > Joseph: > > We don't "only" distribute by Internet, *but* we do distribute most > manuals that way simply because timing is always an issue. > > A software image may be created for manufacturing before my English > manuals are ready, although the English manuals are also loaded > manually at the last second as part of the mfg process (due to > regulatory issues). I've given up trying to worry about timing now > that we just distribute digital copies (hard copy only on request). > > The translated versions are always added on an "as available" > basis, which, of course, is never at release and almost always via > the Internet (occasionally we mail a DVD if the client is in the > middle of nowhere in Africa or Siberia and doesn't have access to a > decent - or any - Internet connection). > > My caveat is that my company may not be a good example for you as > we are a smaller player in the medical device industry, in no way > comparable to Microsoft or Adobe (or even the medical device arms > of GE and Siemens). > > Alison Craig, Technical Writer > Ultrasonix Medical Corporation > Tel: (604) 279-8550, ext 127 > E-mail: alison.craig at ultrasonix.com > > PS: I love your comment re: "the engineering team's agile > development life > cycle". Although "agile and *fluid*" might be a better description > of my R&D team! > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers- > bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Joseph Lorenzini > Sent: Saturday, September 04, 2010 11:01 AM > To: FrameMaker Forum > Subject: Fwd: PDF Distribution: Packaging with Product versus > Internet Access > > Hi all, > > I publish hundreds of pages of documentation using FrameMaker. I > also use > Robohelp to generate help systems. > > Does anyone know of IT companies that ONLY distribute documents > about their > products via the internet and are NO longer distributing > documentation by > installing it with the product? Off the top of my head, I believe > Microsoft > and Adobe do this with some of their products. > > For a variety of reasons, I am considering moving away from bundling > documents with the software's installation package and instead only > distributing the docs via a internet portal. If I did this, I would no > longer be at the mercy of the engineering team's agile development > life > cycle. This means I would 1) have significantly more time to document > features 2) the code is frozen so features will always be completed > by the > time I start documenting them and out of date screenshots would be > a thing > of the past and 3) SMEs would have more time to review my documents. > > However, to make this sell to project management, I need some > evidence that > other IT companies are ONLY distributing documents via the internet > and are > NO longer distributing documentation by installing it with the > product. > > Sincerely, > Joseph Lorenzini > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as > alison.craig at ultrasonix.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/ > alison.craig%40ultrasonix.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as pxenson at comcast.net. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/pxenson > %40comcast.net > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
