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.
Subject:Re: Neilsen makes sense but not amends From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 28 Jul 2003 10:59:57 -0700 (PDT)
> Gosh, it's fun bashing Nielsen. Do the insults also
> apply to those of us who think that he raises some
> intelligent points in the article?
You know, I agree with his points with regard to
on-web implementation.
BUT...
He deserves every ounce of what he's received based on
his delivery and blanket claims.
All his suggestions on improving the online reading of
PDFs make perfect sense. I won't deny that. But
really, the claims he makes are from a very skewed
perspective, and the language he uses to make his
points is extremely unfair to the PDF technology. Much
of what he condemns is a result of bad authoring, and
much of his "solution" discussions are, at least for
me, "Duh" statements.
Of course you should tell users the link is to a PDF,
and of course you should put the filesize info next to
the link (I think # of pages is somewhat irrlevant
though, possibly not in some cased). But, you know, it
all comes down to common sense and common courtesy.
Dunno. Good points, bad delivery.
- Goober
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com
ROBOHELP X4 - THE INDUSTRY STANDARD IN HELP AUTHORING
Buy RoboHelp by July 31st and receive a $100 mail-in rebate!
Find out more about RoboHelp X4: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
Mercer University's online MS Program in Technical Communication Management:
Preparing leaders of tomorrow's technical communication organizations today.
See www.mercer.edu/mstco or write George Hayhoe at hayhoe_g -at- mercer -dot- edu -dot-
---
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.
