TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
"Miller, Lisa" wrote:
>
> First I fully acknowledge that Clippy's help is often an annoying intrusion on
> the working being done because it is generally too basic for the task at hand.
I don't think it's just the level of help that's annoying, although
that's part of the problem.
I'm also bothered by the incongruity between doing a serious task
and the animated cheeriness of the assistant. The incongruity jars
me when I'm concentrating on doing something serious, and I think
that I'd feel that way even if the help was more useful.
> However, in defense of Clippy, I have found the friendly face
> (I use "Links" the cat) to sometimes be reassuring and enjoyable to watch from
> time to time when work becomes too much work. It is often nice to be reminded
> to play and not take yourself and the work too seriously.
To each their own, of course, But, when I reach the same point, I
would rather leave the computer than continue using it in any way.
Of course, I'm working from home four weeks out of five, and can
usually wander over to tickle a parrot.
> The discussion on "Clippy" somewhat supports my belief that experienced users
> generally seek help because they are performing "unnatural acts" with the
> software.
I'll refrain from the obvious jokes about vice squads here :-)
You're right, I think. In practice, the idea of assistants is really
beyond the current level of technology. In theory, a large enough
database could make the assistants more generally useful, and even
better able to learn from each user's actions. In practice, however,
the average computer probably still doesn't have the resources,
especially if it's going to be used for anything else.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
"There's the smell of death on Golden Mountain,
A price in blood is paid on every load
And you bury your friends, too many for counting
In the rock and the mud of the Demon Fire-Carriage Road."
- Su-Chong Lim
*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available 4/30/01 at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com
Sponsored by DigiPub Solutions Corp, producers of PDF 2001 Conference East,
June 4-6, Baltimore, MD. Now covering Acrobat 5. Early registration deadline
April 27. http://www.pdfconference.com.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
