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On-Line Vs. Print, Single-Sourcing, and how to ignore the obvious
Subject:On-Line Vs. Print, Single-Sourcing, and how to ignore the obvious From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 1 Aug 2002 23:32:39 -0700 (PDT)
You kids can yammer 97 ways to Sunday about the
theoretical value and difference and similiarites
between on-line and print - but the cold, hard, stiff,
face up to it fact is - they are different and they
are read differently.
I don't need some PhD in Sniveling Theorizing for
English to know that the way I consume data from a
hyper-linked web site or on-line help is fundamentally
different then how I consume data from a piece of
paper.
Hence, this is one of many millions of blatantly
obvious concepts that the single-sourcing lunatics
just want you to mildly forget about.
Its not to say you can't share data between these two
media, but don't kid yourself - they are different.
Personally, I prefer to get the "Here is exactly
how to do this" kind of information from on-line
help. I look to a printed manual for theoretical and
conceptual background.
However, since very few writers and companies are
capable of putting out conceptual documentation, I
invariably wind up researching the matter on my own
and then trying to integrate that knowledge with the
asinine ways that is implemented in whatever product I
am using.
Andrew Plato
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