RE: Baseline Skillset for Technical Writers?

[Kevin McLauchlan <KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com>]

Megan R. said:

> It's still 
> unusual for me
> to find other women my age (I'm almost 24) who have pursued 
> computers and
> technology as a hobbie or a career.  I think it won't be 
> until the current
> generation of elementary-age children reaches adulthood that we'll see
> significantly more women in technical careers.  It'll be 
> second nature for
> them to know how to use a computer AND to know how it works 
> and how to fix
> it if it breaks.  But I wouldn't make any guarantees about 
> their writing
> skills!

I got out the special glass-cleaner and buffed 
up the ole crystal ball for this one...
I disagree about the computer skills. Your kind 
will continue to be a rare exception, though 
perhaps not QUITE so rare.  The reason is the 
trend toward computers becoming appliances.  

As certain kinds of computer get smaller, "simpler" 
and perhaps more modular (like laptops/notepads 
with all the plug-in and swapable drives, batteries, 
etc., and everything Plug'n'Play) people will need 
to know less and less about their inner workings in 
order to snap out a broken part and shove in a 
replacement.  It'll be like replacing a battery today.

For that matter, a lot of computers will become 
tiny little monoliths, purposely NOT upgradeable 
or part-swappable -- a function tied to their 
rapidly decreasing cost and the need to appeal to 
an ever wider commodity market. The little computer 
appliances will become so cheap that the only 
people who would do ANY kind of internal poking 
would be the same people who'd pry into a $13 
hair dryer.  Most people would say "Why bother?", 
toss the dead one, and pick up a new one at 
Walmart.

I predict that within 15 years, the proportion 
of women who are trouble-shooting/repairing 
computers will be roughly comparable to the 
number who are Maytag repair/m/e/n/ er... persons 
and industrial welders.  That is, not many. 
They'll be the same ones who today or fifteen 
years ago would have chosen "non-traditional" 
hobbies and careers.

There'll be tons of 'em in software, though.

Whups! The crystal ball went cloudy just as 
I was about to see the weekend's lottery 
numbers.       :-)

But, before it died, I'm sure I saw a continuing 
decline of the written word and the associated 
skills.  They'll go the way of the learned 
ability to do arithmetic in one's head, marginalized 
by the ubiquitous equivalent of pocket calculators. 
On the other hand, I predict a resurgence in 
bard-like skills, though the technological 
enhancements will tend to be aural and iconic 
rather than written language. Picture the 
future bard composing at the interface of a 
system more analogous to today's MIDI keyboard 
and sound mixer, than to a writing/typing terminal.
Of course, it'll all be virtual, projected onto her 
retinas, but that's incidental to the concept.
Consumers will consume aurally and visually, but 
via packed icons rather than by written words.

In one sense, it's not necessarily bad, just 
different from what we've been accustomed to.
The significant break is that, while you and 
I *could* (oh, the pain) go back to writing 
with typewriters or pen (quill?) and paper 
(parchment?), the people who, in future, 
depend for their craft on electronic audio 
and iconic memory-and-creativity aids... 
might be quite helpless away from their 
functioning tech.

Yeah, I know I wouldn't do too well in the 
woods with a stone knife and no idea what 
a flint deposit looks like...  :-)
But, y'all get my point.

The underlying talents that make a writer, 
today, will simply express themselves as 
somewhat different skills. In the generic 
areas of technical curiosity, the ability to 
organize and present thoughts, and the grasp 
of pleasing combinations and juxtapositions, 
future communicators will be much like we are.

Now, who wants the soap-box?

Kevin McLauchlan
kmclauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com