Xref: utzoo comp.sys.pyramid:588 comp.software-eng:1962 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!pyramid!csg From: csg@pyramid.pyramid.com (Carl S. Gutekunst) Newsgroups: comp.sys.pyramid,comp.software-eng Subject: Re: Product Documentation (Was: Are users stupid?) Message-ID: <84091@pyramid.pyramid.com> Date: 12 Sep 89 03:45:50 GMT References: <3537@rtech.rtech.com> <6376@hubcap.clemson.edu> <1888@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM> Reply-To: csg@pyramid.pyramid.com (Carl S. Gutekunst) Followup-To: comp.software-eng Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA Lines: 19 In article <1888@scicom.AlphaCDC.COM> rcw@scicom.UUCP (Robert White) writes: >Most companies are unwilling to put what it takes into technical documen- >tation. True.... >They hire inexperienced people who may or may not be technically oriented. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ That's rarely the problem. Far more common is that companies hire writers for their technical expertise, but don't bother to find out whether they know how to *write*. What you end up with is user documentation that looks like it written by an engineer who came late into the project. I can teach someone the technical stuff, if they are willing to learn. But I sure can't teach 'em how to write. Followups to comp.software-eng only.