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Subject:Re: what's a white paper? From:Suzanne Lee <suzanne -at- AUTOSIM -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 28 Apr 1995 15:40:09 -0600
Amy writes:
>What is a "white
>paper"? Webster defines it as "a government report on any subject"
>or "a detailed or authoritative report." Can anyone give me a more
>in-depth answer? I'm particularly interested in the origin of the
>term "white paper" and any guidance on writing and/or formatting one.
I don't know the origin or the formal meaning. My company uses it to mean
a technical paper we write about our products which we send to a
prospective customer. It is more detailed than a marketing brochure, but
not as detailed as the user manual. It's a pre-sales lit piece that
explains how the product works and why it's effective at what it does. It
still has a marketing slant, i.e., why we're better than the competition,
but it's more than the usual marketing fluff.
I, too, have wondered what the phrase "white paper" means, and whether we
are misusing it in the context I described.
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from Suzanne Lee - suzanne -at- autosim -dot- com
AutoSimulations, Inc. - Bountiful, UT
(801)298-1398 ext 333 fax (801)298-8186
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