Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years

Subject: Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:11:58 -0800


Without knowing the full history that preceded the remark and the
firing, we can't know if the people doing the writing did what they
were told, or if they engaged in an unwanted effort to try to make
the company's documentation meet their own personal standards
of "good" or "better." I've seen this sort of thing happen before,
when writers attempt to be "user advocates" and "push for better
products," but fail to take note of the fact that the documentation
is already meeting all the requirements adequately in the eyes of
their employers and that their additional efforts are unwelcome.

As for the Apple example, the applicable question would be,
did the shirts as made, "wrong" or not, meet the requirements
set forth by the customer, and did the customer's requirements
provide the vendor with the flexibility to deviate from those
requirements if it made sense to do so? When you lay out rigid
and detailed requirements, as the DoD often does, you have no
one to blame but yourself when your vendors follow them to the
letter.

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message -----
From: "John Posada" <writer -at- tdandw -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years


>
> This is all fine and I understand it. However, the problem
> attributed to the whole thing should not be "the
> documentation was too good."
>
> The documentation was wrong for the purpose. It was good for
> the purpose of the defense contractor, but the reason the
> department was fired was the documentation did not meet it's
> required purpose.
>
> This isn't a ding on the people doing the writing. They did
> what they were told. The documents were simply wrong for
> their intended purpose, even though the "wrong" was
> intentional by design.
>
> Example...and you may remember this as a print ad from Apple
> years ago when they were selling the concept of a word
> processor...a model of a shirt is given to a garment maker
> who is to make 10,000 copies of the shirt. However, the
> shirt has a burn hole through the shirt. The garment maker
> makes 10,000 shirts with a burn mark.
>
> The shirt is perfect. It is also wrong


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.520 / Virus Database: 318 - Release Date: 9/18/2003

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ROBOHELP FOR FRAMEMAKER TRIAL NOW AVAILABLE!

RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or download a trial at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l4

---
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.



References:
RE: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years (Long and V ERY Worth It): From: George Mena
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: John Posada
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: John Posada
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: John Posada
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: Gene Kim-Eng
Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years: From: John Posada

Previous by Author: Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years
Next by Author: Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years (Long and V ERY Worth It)
Previous by Thread: Re: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years
Next by Thread: RE: Hi-Tech Company Hasn't Used Tech Writers in Years (Long and V ERY Worth It)


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads