radical revamping of techpubs

The "external documentation" recommended for XP and agile development is fundamentally different than the documentation model used in old-style waterfall design. Because the application itself is built in an iterative process, rather than being carved in stone, reacting to feedback from the cl

radical revamping of techpubs

Perhaps. However, I can speak from the experience I had at a company where the manager of documentation attended design-phase meetings for the products, and then she assigned a writer when a prototype was available. The doc mgr was able to provide key input about the user base and do some

Word tables to FM Tables?

Hi, I have to update an existing FM Book with new requirements. I am given a Word document with about 10 tables (and lot of other text content too). The size of the tables range from 5 to 40 rows and 3 to 5 columns. Is there a way to quickly copy/import that Word table data into FM tables? My

Word tables to FM Tables?

Radha, a search of the archives for this list and other lists that discuss FM (e.g.,techwr-l and techcommpros) will offer some good advice for this. O'Keefe and Loring's "FrameMaker 7" book discusses the process and the Table Cleaner plug-in on p. 187. Also, the document at http://www.techknowledge

radical revamping of techpubs

Most projects have some of this tendency as well, because very few products are based on completely known technology in both functional design and interaction design. Changes occur. Clients also demand changes sometimes randomly. In my experience, the average software company calls the TW when the

radical revamping of techpubs

Bill's perception is quite correct, and I'm glad to see other agree. The best TWs I know are the ones who happily roll up their sleeves, dive into an unknown situation and get dirty. My mental image is of them parachuting from a plane far above the unknown, getting last minute shouted orders from

radical revamping of techpubs

Chris Borokowski wrote:In my experience, the average software company calls the TW when the product is nearing completion, with completion usually meaning "five minutes before the ship date," and asks them to WTFM. Yes, they do. And that's exactly why so much of the documentation is frustrati

radical revamping of techpubs

I agree, and if there's one reason many people think technical writing has a bad name, it's this. The churned-out documentation where the writer is left with so little time and support they create a transcription of the obvious, with little informational content or sense of how they can make the us

radical revamping of techpubs

...or similar biggies realize that time-to-market is everything, Time-to-market is not everything if you sacrifice quality. If you're first on the market but your product is crap, the fact that you were first on the market is irrelevant. I know a CEO who got fired because all he cared about i

radical revamping of techpubs

And I know of a CEO who used to either get there first, or let the wannabes struggle over the crumbs. Name of Bill Gates. Quality is primarily a subjective opinion; witness the 90+% of the population of the planet using Windows, despite the occasional Blue Screen of Death, or necessary re-boo

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Despite the incredible pressure that people feel to be the first on the market with the latest release, I think history shows that it is almost NEVER the first product to market that has long-term success, at least in high-tech. The IBM PC was not the first to market by a number of years. Mic

radical revamping of techpubs

I'm not sure the question here is one of quality as much as different purposes. If you want most stuff to install quickly and work the first time, want flexibility about what hardware you can use, and want compatibility with most people out there, Windows is a clear winner, and most users never se

radical revamping of techpubs

Clearly Chris hasn't used a Mac since System 7...;-)...might be interested to know that OSX is built on BSD! Most users "never see a blue screen of death"? Be serious. But I suppose this is all off topic... Neil -Original Message- From: framers-bounces+neil.tubb=solacesystems@lists.

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Many, especially in business, would argue the opposite; the first mover advantage is huge. Case in point, the business strategy of Sony. The philosophy of "lifers"--build a widget, establish a broad base of loyal, satisfied customers, grow the organization organically is about as obsolete as

radical revamping of techpubs

The presumption was made that Microsoft has market share due to time-to-market push by Gates, and that is a gross oversimplification. It has a lot more to do with cut-throat marketing tactics and industrial espionage (end justifies the means to Gates) than it does with simply driving a product f

radical revamping of techpubs

>>Quality is primarily a subjective opinion; >>Similarly, whether a product is crap or not is again an opinion, not an objective evaluation that can applied in all cases. When you work in the semi-conductor industry making high-tech instruments that are used in fabs (chip fabrication plants), qual

radical revamping of techpubs

The same could be said of pacemakers, missile control systems, and a host of others. That does not change the fact that in most software applications, perceptions of quality are highly subjective. Subject: RE: radical revamping of techpubsDate: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:09:42 -0700From: gflato at n

radical revamping of techpubs

I have seen enough bug reports in my time to know that quality is not subjective. If the software generates a mile-long list of bugs reported by customers and QA people, the software application is crap. Thank you, Gillian Flato Technical Writer (Software

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Technical Writer wrote: > Many, especially in business, would argue the opposite; the > first mover advantage is huge. Case in point, the business > strategy of Sony. Sony is a good company with solid products, but their track record on innovations sucks. They brought us, among others, Beta vi

radical revamping of techpubs

And yet people still buy it. If they did not, issues of quality would be irrelevant; only the "quality" items would be purchased, the "crap" would languish on the dealer shelves, and we would be working rather than having this discussion.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Deve

radical revamping of techpubs

I can't see how quality can possibly be subjective if there's an entire occupation devoted to assuring it. Perhaps TW has only worked in environments where "quality" is merely a buzzword. On 10/19/07, Flato, Gillian wrote: > I have seen enough bug reports in my time to know that quality is not >

radical revamping of techpubs

People buy things out of need and want. If the quality sucks, and they need it, what are they going to do? If an insulin pump eats batteries at a 20% higher rate than advertised, the quality sucks, but that doesn't mean that the product isn't needed. It's up to the company to fix the quality flaws

radical revamping of techpubs

You're making an assumption that the market is driven by quality. It is not, though that's certainly a factor. The market is driven even more by good marketing. At 10:58 AM 10/19/2007, Technical Writer wrote: >And yet people still buy it. If they did not, issues of quality >would be irreleva

forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text

Hi all, Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). This is a textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. I'm trying to follow the Chicago Manual of Style's guidelines on breaks in URLs, which spec

radical revamping of techpubs

The market is also driven by price, availability, and value (=quality for the price), but pervasive marketing and cut-throat competition can trump. Rene John Hedtke wrote: You're making an assumption that the market is driven by quality. It is not, though that's certainly a factor. The mar

radical revamping of techpubs

True enough. :) At 11:23 AM 10/19/2007, Rene Stephenson wrote: >The market is also driven by price, availability, and value >(=quality for the price), but pervasive marketing and cut-throat >competition can trump. > >Rene > >John Hedtke wrote: >You're making an assumption that the market is dr

radical revamping of techpubs

Bill Gates, first to market? Gates has proven anything by innovative. He's the quintessential, 'let the other guys put it on the market and we'll steal it and market it better.' DOS? He bought the company? Windows? Stole the idea from Apple (who stole it from Xerox Park) Internet Explorer? Net

radical revamping of techpubs

Another way to say this might, the market is driven by perceived quality of product as a product. Microsoft Windows is not as stable as BSD, but it installs easily and lets the average user get up and running quickly while maintaining high backward compatibility. Is that higher quality, or lower qu

radical revamping of techpubs

Doesn't it depend on what the competition is? --- Technical Writer wrote: > And yet people still buy it. http://technical-writing.dionysius.com/ technical writing | consulting | development __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the b

radical revamping of techpubs

Most applications hover somewhere between excellent and crap. The ones that generate the mile-long grievances are crap, and the ones that people treasure (and hoard on their thumb drives) for a decade are excellent. --- "Flato, Gillian" wrote: > I have seen enough bug reports in my time to know

radical revamping of techpubs

In my view, the only reason Windows has dominated personal computing is because Microsoft bullied hardware company into selling its products. It told computer manufacturers throughout the 90s when it built its domination to either use only Windows or to have to pay more for each copy if the

radical revamping of techpubs

No, I've known that for quite some time. It is built on BSD, hacked with Mach on a ton of libraries, and it's nowhere near as stable as BSD or as logically consistent. My primary reason for avoiding Apple is the company and, I almost forgot, the sanctimonious attitudes of its users ;) --- Neil Tu

radical revamping of techpubs

I'm somewhat thankful they did, as the result was a standardization of hardware that allows $500 to buy a better quality machine than a $1500 Macintosh or $2500 custom UNIX. Sometimes aggression in business can produce very fortunate results for us little people. --- Ron Miller wrote: > In my vi

radical revamping of techpubs

Au contraire, I think that's a very good way to put it, Chris. John At 11:37 AM 10/19/2007, Chris Borokowski wrote: >Another way to say this might, the market is driven by perceived >quality of product as a product. Microsoft Windows is not as stable as >BSD, but it installs easily and lets the a

radical revamping of techpubs

Your inference suggests that hardware would have stayed expensive without Microsoft. I don't buy that. In my view, hardware would have dropped regardless because the price of the components dropped over time, completely independent from the PC's relationship to Microsoft. In fact, I would m

[ Re: forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text]

Tina Ricks wrote: > Hi all, > > > > Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. > > > > The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). This is a > textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. I'm trying to follow > the Chicago Manual of Style'

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

What about the business strategy of Sony? Admittedly, I see some loyalists, but I see many consumers who are inclined to wait for the price to inevitably come down when a new Sony product hits the market -- or who head for alternatives that don't involve annoyingly proprietary formats such as th

radical revamping of techpubs

My inference is that hardware would not have been standardized without Microsoft or some other aggressive, unifying business entity. I've actually had good luck with PCs, but I've been a Mac user since 1984 and an Apple user for four years before that, a UNIX user about the same length of time, an

NuLOOQ Navigator and shortcut keys

I am trying to configure one of these things for use with FrameMaker. They work *really* well with CS2 apps like Illustrator, with which Logitech seems to have managed to thoroughly intertwingle it. However, a problem arises with FrameMaker, as a great many of it

radical revamping of techpubs

Ron Miller wrote: > In my view, the only reason Windows has dominated personal > computing is because Microsoft bullied hardware company into > selling its products. I don't think this popular myth stands up to scrutiny. Microsoft's "bullying" wasn't primarily to get people to *use* Windows, i

forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:07:55 -0700, "Tina Ricks" wrote: >Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. >The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). >This is a textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. Thinking outside the box a bit... If thi

radical revamping of techpubs

As there is an entire industry based on usability. Also the first to go when the belt needs tightening, because they are perceived as being "nice to have when the economy is good, but otherwise not particularly useful." To believe that a secondary industry is necessary to assure an acceptable l

radical revamping of techpubs

Exactly. And the desire to buy--the want and the need--are in the province of marketing. That is why the makers of some of the shoddiest goods on the planet prattle on about quality, as if it were a thing-in-itself. In many cases, it is a subjective perception and subjective opinion.http://www

radical revamping of techpubs

Yes. It is mandatory that conscientious performance of a particular work task include--at a minimum--an acceptable level of quality. Without the intervention of the QA department. The Theory X management view that people are lazy, don't care about quality, and will do everything possible to avo

radical revamping of techpubs

Good point.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - Online Content - Enterprise Websites> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:10:43 -0700> To: tekwrytr at hotmail.com; gflato at nanometrics.com; framers at lists.frameusers.com> From: jo

radical revamping of techpubs

One of the aspects of good Tech Writing is usability and formatting of text to make it easy to read for the end-user. Tekwryter can't even make an email readable, as you can see by his response below. I won't hold my breath that his documents are good quality. I guess the email below is a produc

radical revamping of techpubs

Actually, no, that's not the case, Gillian; Tekwryter's emails directly to me have been well-formatted. I think this is more an effect of the listserve software doing something unexpected. John At 04:04 PM 10/19/2007, Flato, Gillian wrote: >One of the aspects of good Tech Writing is usability

radical revamping of techpubs

That's what makes marketing such a popular major. http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - Online Content - Enterprise Websites Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:23:07 -0700From: rinnie1 at yahoo.comSubject: RE: radical revamping of

OT: Kittens and writing

I have a 7-8 month old kitten who runs on pure energy. He's been discovering the thrill of leaping on my desk and knocking things over. Cats are notoriously opaque. Yours truly, John Hedtke Author/Consultant/Contract Writer www.hedtke.com <-- website 541-685-5000 (office landline) 541-554

radical revamping of techpubs

At 04:09 PM 10/19/2007, Technical Writer wrote: >That's what makes marketing such a popular major. :) Truly!

radical revamping of techpubs

There is a difference between being "first to invent" and "first to successfully produce and/or market." The world is full of brilliant ideas that never go (and never went) anywhere. Xerox is PARC, not Park. What they developed was the concept of GUI, based on user interaction with a computer.

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Yes. Because Sony's stategy is based on first mover advantage and the high prices innovators are willing to pay. They are much less interested in the price competion and flood of imitations that inevitably follow a successful innovation.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Devel

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

"Branding" also refers to "We are your friends and neighbors. You should pay me twice as much as Wal-Mart because we went to the same high school." The term is used to refer to an association between idea and product. Coke is a good example, as are crescent wrench, visegrips, and a dozen others

radical revamping of techpubs

john at hedtke.com wrote > Actually, no, that's not the case, Gillian; Tekwryter's emails > directly to me have been well-formatted. I think this is more an > effect of the listserve software doing something unexpected. Actually, it's a product of Microsoft's latest Windows Live e-mail client

JOB: Senior Technical Writer, Westborough, MA

It appears this post never made it, so I am sending it again. Apologies if it winds up posting more than once: CommercialWare has an opening for a senior technical writer to work on various software products, primarily a point-of-sale application and its integrations with related applications. T

Word tables to FM Tables?

I have also use Framescript for this - you convert the word document using a script that you then convert into Frame (text) sort of like an inset. I can send an example if you are using Framescript. Or check out http://www.frameexpert.com/ Carey Bates Computershare -Original Message- Fro

radical revamping of techpubs

Got to chime in on this interesting discussion. Technical Writer wrote: In a world in which dynamic online help files are rapidly replacing hard copy documents, it seems more useful to focus on developing a skill set that enables high-volume production of acceptable quality content, rather than

radical revamping of techpubs

The "external documentation" recommended for XP and agile development is fundamentally different than the documentation model used in old-style waterfall design. Because the application itself is built in an iterative process, rather than being carved in stone, reacting to feedback from the cl

Re: Convert PDF to DOC or FM

Can't you just use Acrobat Professional 8? It translates the PDF to Word as text insets, which you then change to pure text. It works for me. Joel On 10/17/07 11:59 AM, "O'Laoghaire Micheal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Try using Nuance's PDFConverter4 ( http://www.nuance.com/pdfconverter/) for

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

Most projects have some of this tendency as well, because very few products are based on completely known technology in both functional design and interaction design. Changes occur. Clients also demand changes sometimes randomly. In my experience, the average software company calls the TW when the

forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text

Hi all, Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). This is a textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. I'm trying to follow the Chicago Manual of Style's guidelines on breaks in URLs, which sp

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

People buy things out of need and want. If the quality sucks, and they need it, what are they going to do? If an insulin pump eats batteries at a 20% higher rate than advertised, the quality sucks, but that doesn't mean that the product isn't needed. It's up to the company to fix the quality flaws

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

I can't see how quality can possibly be subjective if there's an entire occupation devoted to assuring it. Perhaps TW has only worked in environments where "quality" is merely a buzzword. On 10/19/07, Flato, Gillian <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have seen enough bug reports in my time to know tha

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

And yet people still buy it. If they did not, issues of quality would be irrelevant; only the "quality" items would be purchased, the "crap" would languish on the dealer shelves, and we would be working rather than having this discussion.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Deve

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

I have seen enough bug reports in my time to know that quality is not subjective. If the software generates a mile-long list of bugs reported by customers and QA people, the software application is crap. Thank you, Gillian Flato Technical Writer (Software) nan

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Ron Miller wrote: > In my view, the only reason Windows has dominated personal > computing is because Microsoft bullied hardware company into > selling its products. I don't think this popular myth stands up to scrutiny. Microsoft's "bullying" wasn't primarily to get people to *use* Windows,

RE: First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

"Branding" also refers to "We are your friends and neighbors. You should pay me twice as much as Wal-Mart because we went to the same high school." The term is used to refer to an association between idea and product. Coke is a good example, as are crescent wrench, visegrips, and a dozen others

RE: First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Yes. Because Sony's stategy is based on first mover advantage and the high prices innovators are willing to pay. They are much less interested in the price competion and flood of imitations that inevitably follow a successful innovation.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Devel

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

At 04:09 PM 10/19/2007, Technical Writer wrote: That's what makes marketing such a popular major. :) Truly! ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote > Actually, no, that's not the case, Gillian; Tekwryter's emails > directly to me have been well-formatted. I think this is more an > effect of the listserve software doing something unexpected. Actually, it's a product of Microsoft's latest Windows Live e-mail clien

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

There is a difference between being "first to invent" and "first to successfully produce and/or market." The world is full of brilliant ideas that never go (and never went) anywhere. Xerox is PARC, not Park. What they developed was the concept of GUI, based on user interaction with a computer.

OT: Kittens and writing

I have a 7-8 month old kitten who runs on pure energy. He's been discovering the thrill of leaping on my desk and knocking things over. Cats are notoriously opaque. Yours truly, John Hedtke Author/Consultant/Contract Writer www.hedtke.com <-- website 541-685-5000 (office landline) 541-5

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

That's what makes marketing such a popular major. http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - Online Content - Enterprise Websites Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:23:07 -0700From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RE: radical revamping of techpubs

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

One of the aspects of good Tech Writing is usability and formatting of text to make it easy to read for the end-user. Tekwryter can't even make an email readable, as you can see by his response below. I won't hold my breath that his documents are good quality. I guess the email below is a produc

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Good point.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - Online Content - Enterprise Websites> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:10:43 -0700> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; framers@lists.frameusers.com> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]>

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Yes. It is mandatory that conscientious performance of a particular work task include--at a minimum--an acceptable level of quality. Without the intervention of the QA department. The Theory X management view that people are lazy, don't care about quality, and will do everything possible to avo

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Exactly. And the desire to buy--the want and the need--are in the province of marketing. That is why the makers of some of the shoddiest goods on the planet prattle on about quality, as if it were a thing-in-itself. In many cases, it is a subjective perception and subjective opinion.http://www

NuLOOQ Navigator and shortcut keys

I am trying to configure one of these things for use with FrameMaker. They work *really* well with CS2 apps like Illustrator, with which Logitech seems to have managed to thoroughly intertwingle it. However, a problem arises with FrameMaker, as a great many of it

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

My inference is that hardware would not have been standardized without Microsoft or some other aggressive, unifying business entity. I've actually had good luck with PCs, but I've been a Mac user since 1984 and an Apple user for four years before that, a UNIX user about the same length of time, an

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Actually, no, that's not the case, Gillian; Tekwryter's emails directly to me have been well-formatted. I think this is more an effect of the listserve software doing something unexpected. John At 04:04 PM 10/19/2007, Flato, Gillian wrote: One of the aspects of good Tech Writing is usability

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

As there is an entire industry based on usability. Also the first to go when the belt needs tightening, because they are perceived as being "nice to have when the economy is good, but otherwise not particularly useful." To believe that a secondary industry is necessary to assure an acceptable l

Re: forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text

On Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:07:55 -0700, "Tina Ricks" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. >The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). >This is a textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. Thinking outside the b

RE: Word tables to FM Tables?

I have also use Framescript for this - you convert the word document using a script that you then convert into Frame (text) sort of like an inset. I can send an example if you are using Framescript. Or check out http://www.frameexpert.com/ Carey Bates Computershare -Original Message- Fro

[ Re: forced line breaks, URLs, and justified text]

Tina Ricks wrote: Hi all, Would love some help with forced line breaks in justified text. The text is justified (not my choice, it's what the client wants). This is a textbook, and there are a lot of references to URLs. I'm trying to follow the Chicago Manual of Style's guidelines on br

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

Your inference suggests that hardware would have stayed expensive without Microsoft. I don't buy that. In my view, hardware would have dropped regardless because the price of the components dropped over time, completely independent from the PC's relationship to Microsoft. In fact, I would m

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

The market is also driven by price, availability, and value (=quality for the price), but pervasive marketing and cut-throat competition can trump. Rene John Hedtke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: You're making an assumption that the market is driven by quality. It is not, though that's certa

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

You're making an assumption that the market is driven by quality. It is not, though that's certainly a factor. The market is driven even more by good marketing. At 10:58 AM 10/19/2007, Technical Writer wrote: And yet people still buy it. If they did not, issues of quality would be irrelevan

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

No, I've known that for quite some time. It is built on BSD, hacked with Mach on a ton of libraries, and it's nowhere near as stable as BSD or as logically consistent. My primary reason for avoiding Apple is the company and, I almost forgot, the sanctimonious attitudes of its users ;) --- Neil Tu

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

True enough. :) At 11:23 AM 10/19/2007, Rene Stephenson wrote: The market is also driven by price, availability, and value (=quality for the price), but pervasive marketing and cut-throat competition can trump. Rene John Hedtke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: You're making an assumption that the

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

In my view, the only reason Windows has dominated personal computing is because Microsoft bullied hardware company into selling its products. It told computer manufacturers throughout the 90s when it built its domination to either use only Windows or to have to pay more for each copy if the

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Most applications hover somewhere between excellent and crap. The ones that generate the mile-long grievances are crap, and the ones that people treasure (and hoard on their thumb drives) for a decade are excellent. --- "Flato, Gillian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have seen enough bug reports

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

The same could be said of pacemakers, missile control systems, and a host of others. That does not change the fact that in most software applications, perceptions of quality are highly subjective. Subject: RE: radical revamping of techpubsDate: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 10:09:42 -0700From: [EMAIL PROT

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

Doesn't it depend on what the competition is? --- Technical Writer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > And yet people still buy it. http://technical-writing.dionysius.com/ technical writing | consulting | development __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Ya

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

Bill Gates, first to market? Gates has proven anything by innovative. He's the quintessential, 'let the other guys put it on the market and we'll steal it and market it better.' DOS? He bought the company? Windows? Stole the idea from Apple (who stole it from Xerox Park) Internet Explorer? Ne

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

>>Quality is primarily a subjective opinion; >>Similarly, whether a product is crap or not is again an opinion, not an objective evaluation that can applied in all cases. When you work in the semi-conductor industry making high-tech instruments that are used in fabs (chip fabrication plants), qua

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

The presumption was made that Microsoft has market share due to time-to-market push by Gates, and that is a gross oversimplification. It has a lot more to do with cut-throat marketing tactics and industrial espionage (end justifies the means to Gates) than it does with simply driving a product f

RE: First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Many, especially in business, would argue the opposite; the first mover advantage is huge. Case in point, the business strategy of Sony. The philosophy of "lifers"--build a widget, establish a broad base of loyal, satisfied customers, grow the organization organically is about as obsolete a

RE: radical revamping of techpubs

I'm not sure the question here is one of quality as much as different purposes. If you want most stuff to install quickly and work the first time, want flexibility about what hardware you can use, and want compatibility with most people out there, Windows is a clear winner, and most users never se

First on market (was RE: radical revamping of techpubs)

Despite the incredible pressure that people feel to be the first on the market with the latest release, I think history shows that it is almost NEVER the first product to market that has long-term success, at least in high-tech. The IBM PC was not the first to market by a number of years. Mic

Re: radical revamping of techpubs

I agree, and if there's one reason many people think technical writing has a bad name, it's this. The churned-out documentation where the writer is left with so little time and support they create a transcription of the obvious, with little informational content or sense of how they can make the us

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