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Subject:Online vs. Paper (fwd) From:Sherri Hall <shall -at- HILCO -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 21 Dec 1994 09:45:09 CST
Mike LaTorra sums:
> The overwhelming majority of respondents want some kind of paper manual,
> even if it's brief. Apparently, though online help is desirable, few
> people believe it is currently sufficient.
> TOTAL NUMBER OF RESPONDENTS = 17
> RESPONDENTS IN FAVOR OF RETAINING PAPER MANUALS = 15
> RESPONDENTS IN FAVOR OF GOING COMPLETELY ONLINE = 2
Thanks, Mike, this is good data which I missed previously 'cuz I'm rather
new to the list. Question: Do you think these numbers would be reversed
if your readers were software/quality/system engineers? My experience is
that paper manuals are perceived as low-tech (read __bad__) by high-tech
audiences. (For the past 10 years I've mostly written for high-techers,
so it's good to get other perspectives.)
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Sherri Hall, Product Manager-Documentation Email: shall -at- hilco -dot- com
"And unto us a child is born . . . Merry Christmas!"
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