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"Sean Brierley" <seanb_us -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Why would Adobe have to explain that in a TV ad?
>
> "Mike O." <obie1121 -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
> >
> > Last night I saw one of those Adobe commercials for
> > PDF... it was pure branding, nowhere did they
> > explain
> > that PDF stands for Portable Document Format:
> > http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/acro_ad.html
>
The target audience of their campaign must be communities like ours, in
which PDF is becoming popular. Such campaigns tell the potential
customers what a particular product can do for them, in a direct or
creative way. They are not meant for education. It is the same with most
of the ads in the area of IT. Check out the ads of microprocessors. They
can appear during any TV programme. They don't explain what a
microprocessor is, though the companies are pretty sure that most of the
audience don't know what a microprocessor can do for them. There will be
a section of audience who buy computers and processors for their business
and personal use and the advertisers know that they have to reach them
through these media.
Regarding the original question on usage of jargons, I think technical
communicators can help the potential users understand what a particular
technology means to them. The sad fact is that if you search for some
information about a product or technology, you get a lot of technical
information written by/for technical folks and very limited information
meant for the end-users. While publishing information on the web or other
media, companies should ensure that they are providing adequate
information for the techies and the potential customers in appropriate
ways.
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