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Subject:Re: Podcasts for Customer Support From:Marc Bryant <twmarcb -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Stuart Burnfield <sburnf -at- au1 -dot- ibm -dot- com>, techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 15 Aug 2006 06:09:02 -0700 (PDT)
How many times do you read a software manual when you get a new piece of software? me, only when the interface is so poorly designed that I'm forced into it. As technical writers (communicators) we need to be able to adapt to various mediums to get the point across, to make the products we document easier to understand. I for one love to listen to the Security Now podcast every week. They discuss bookloads of topics in the computer/internet/networking world, in depth. I get more out of their one hour conversations than I ever have reading a network security book (and more than I learned in my network essentials class in college).
Podcasting isn't going to replace existing documentation types, but it can, and does, add to the user experience when it is done in the right way.
----- Original Message ----
From: Stuart Burnfield <sburnf -at- au1 -dot- ibm -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Sent: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 12:43:55 AM
Subject: Re: Podcasts for Customer Support
I still find it hard to picture how podcasting would be an effective way to
communicate technical information. Reading is so much faster than
listening.
In ten minutes of reading I can scan, skim, reread, follow links, and so
on. In a ten minute audio presentation I can cover ten minutes of speech
and that's about it.
For technical information I need to concentrate and work at my own pace.
>From my experience of podcasting it would work best when I can listen while
doing something else (cooking, driving) and it doesn't require my full
attention. So it would be good for catching up with radio programmes and
talking books but not for trying to grasp technical concepts or procedures.
Can anyone give examples of technical 'writing' that they have successfully
absorbed through a podcast?
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