radical revamping of techpubs

John Hedtke john at hedtke.com
Fri Oct 19 16:08:39 PDT 2007 

Actually, no, that's not the case, Gillian; Tekwryter's emails 
directly to me have been well-formatted.  I think this is more an 
effect of the listserve software doing something unexpected.

John

At 04:04 PM 10/19/2007, Flato, Gillian wrote:
>One of the aspects of good Tech Writing is usability and formatting 
>of text to make it easy to read for the end-user. Tekwryter can't 
>even make an email readable, as you can see by his response below. I 
>won't hold my breath that his documents are good quality. I guess 
>the email below is a product of an Agile/XP email system. He also 
>might consider getting someone to QA his email posts.
>
>-Gillian
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: framers-bounces+gflato=nanometrics.com at lists.frameusers.com 
>[mailto:framers-bounces+gflato=nanometrics.com at lists.frameusers.com] 
>On Behalf Of Technical Writer
>Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 3:56 PM
>To: john at hedtke.com; framers at lists.frameusers.com
>Subject: RE: radical revamping of techpubs
>
>
>Good point.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the Design, 
>Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - Online 
>Content - Enterprise Websites> Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:10:43 
>-0700> To: tekwrytr at hotmail.com; gflato at nanometrics.com; 
>framers at lists.frameusers.com> From: john at hedtke.com> Subject: RE: 
>radical revamping of techpubs> > You're making an assumption that 
>the market is driven by quality. It > is not, though that's 
>certainly a factor. The market is driven even > more by good 
>marketing.> > At 10:58 AM 10/19/2007, Technical Writer 
>wrote:> > >And yet people still buy it. If they did not, issues of 
>quality > >would be irrelevant; only the "quality" items would be 
>purchased, > >the "crap" would languish on the dealer shelves, and 
>we would be > >working rather than having 
>this > >discussion.http://www.tekwrytrs.com/Specializing in the 
>Design, > >Development, and Production of:Technical Documentation - 
>Online > >Content - Enterprise Websites> >> >> >Subject: RE: radical 
>revamping of techpubsDate: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 > >10:55:33 -0700From: 
>gflato at nanometrics.comTo: 
>tekwrytr at hotmail.com; > >framers at lists.frameusers.com> >> >> >> >I 
>have seen enough bug reports in my time to know that quality 
>is > >not subjective. If the software generates a mile-long list of 
>bugs > >reported by customers and QA people, the software 
>application is crap.> >> >> >Thank you,> >> >> >Gillian 
>Flato> >Technical Writer (Software)> >nanometrics> >1550 Buckeye 
>Dr.> >Milpitas, CA. 95035> >(408.545.6316> >7 408.232.5911> >* 
>gflato at nanometrics.com> >> >> >> >> >From: Technical Writer 
>[mailto:tekwrytr at hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, > >October 19, 2007 
>10:52 AMTo: Flato, Gillian; > >framers at lists.frameusers.comSubject: 
>RE: radical revamping of techpubs> >The same could be said of 
>pacemakers, missile control systems, and a > >host of others. That 
>does not change the fact that in most software > >applications, 
>perceptions of quality are highly subjective.> >> >> >Subject: RE: 
>radical revamping of techpubsDate: Fri, 19 Oct 2007 > >10:09:42 
>-0700From: gflato at nanometrics.comTo: 
>tekwrytr at hotmail.com; > >framers at lists.frameusers.com> >> >> > >>Qual 
>ity is primarily a subjective opinion;> > >>Similarly, whether a 
>product is crap or not is again an opinion, > > not an objective 
>evaluation that can applied in all cases.> >> >When you work in the 
>semi-conductor industry making high-tech > >instruments that are 
>used in fabs (chip fabrication plants), quality > >is not 
>subjective. If the tool stops running after a few thousand > >cycles 
>or a part on the tool fails after only a few months of > >running, 
>then it's objective. A part broke, the Tool shutdown, > >quality is 
>crap, that's not subjective.> >> >TechWriters in my field document 
>the software that runs on these > >types of tools. If you go to a 
>fab, you'll see the type of tools I > >am taking about.> >> >BTW, 
>why don't you identify who you are? You act so sanctimonious > >yet 
>you hide behind a moniker. Have some cohones and tell us who you 
>are.> >> >> >Thank you,> >> >> >Gillian Flato> >Technical Writer 
>(Software)> >nanometrics> >1550 Buckeye Dr.> >Milpitas, CA. 
>95035> >(408.545.6316> >7 408.232.5911> >* 
>gflato at nanometrics.com> >> >> >> >> >From: Technical Writer 
>[mailto:tekwrytr at hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, > >October 19, 2007 9:37 
>AMTo: Flato, Gillian; > >framers at lists.frameusers.comSubject: RE: 
>radical revamping of techpubs> > And I know of a CEO who used to 
>either get there first, or let the > > wannabes struggle over the 
>crumbs. Name of Bill Gates. Quality is > > primarily a subjective 
>opinion; witness the 90+% of the population > > of the planet using 
>Windows, despite the occasional Blue Screen of > > Death, or 
>necessary re-booting orre-installing required. Similarly, > > 
>whether a product is crap or not is again an opinion, not an > > 
>objective evaluation that can applied in all cases. The Debian > > 
>flavor of Linux is considered "the best" by some, and "the 
>worst" > > by some. The opinions are subjective. Everyone TW wants 
>to believe > > that he or she is producing quality documentation 
>that creates a > > warm fuzzy in the user, and makes 
>customers-for-life of the company > > that produces whatever is 
>being documented. I simply suggest a > > reality check may be more 
>useful. If the TW is documenting > > software, perhaps he or she 
>should change fields to one with a > > slower pace of life (and 
>writing). The option is to accept the > > realities of the 
>marketplace, and how those influence and constrain > > the 
>production of technical documentation. In a world in which > > 
>dynamic onlne help files are rapidly replacing hard copy 
>documents, > > it seems more useful to focus on developing a skill 
>set that > > enables high-volume production of acceptable quality 
>content, > > rather than obsessing over trivial (to most users) 
>details of > > grammar, construction, or voice. In that direction 
>may lie the > > future of TW--get it written, get it online, and 
>concentrate on the > > Pareto principle of satisfying the needs of 
>the majority of users > > rather than obsessing over the subjective 
>opinions of the > > minority. < From: gflato at nanometrics.com> 
>To: > > tekwrytr at hotmail.com; framers at lists.frameusers.com> > ...or 
>similar > > biggies realize that time-to-market is 
>everything, > > > > Time-to-market is not everything if you 
>sacrifice quality. If > > you're first on the market but your 
>product is crap, the fact that > > you were first on the market is 
>irrelevant. > > I know a CEO who > > got fired because all he cared 
>about is being first on the market > > but his products were crap 
>and failed often. Other company's that > > were slower to market but 
>turned out quality products, stole > > marketshare from that 
>company. The company almost went under until > > the board of 
>Directors wisely fired him and put a new CEO at the > > helm.> > > 
>-Gillian> >> >> >Boo! Scare away worms, viruses and so much more! 
>Try Windows Live > >OneCare! Try now!> >> >Boo! Scare away worms, 
>viruses and so much more! Try Windows Live > >OneCare! Try 
>now!> >______________________________________________________________ 
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>Yours truly,> > John Hedtke> Author/Consultant/Contract Writer> 
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Yours truly,

John Hedtke
Author/Consultant/Contract Writer
www.hedtke.com <-- website
Region 7 Director, STC
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