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Yeah but that was also back in the day when companies were willing to spend the time and money to actually train new hires; and co-workers' time wasn't stretched so thin that they could be patient and helpful and still get their own work done.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lynne -dot- wright=tiburoninc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Peter Neilson
Sent: October-02-14 1:52 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com; Debbi Crum
Subject: Re: keeping the page count down?
On Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:18:39 -0400, Debbi Crum <debbi -dot- crum -at- yahoo -dot- com>
wrote:
> Does anyone have suggestions on how to make a document more compact, ...
Back in the dark ages, when there was a lot more stuff that had to be explained, or so it seemed, we made pocket cards. They would show assignments of bits in registers, crucial command-line options, stuff like that. The user was expected to know the material already, and the cards were only a reminder, for saving time and for not messing things up. At one shop we had training classes and we had cards, but no manuals at all.
Training involved a lot of hand-on work by users who already knew all the EE that went into the particular electronic test equipment.
Eventually pocket cards grew into pocket booklets, and then those outgrew the pockets. The cards, in my experience, were the most useful item, and the best received. As Will Strunk said, "Rule 13. Omit needless words."
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