'Old fashioned' Tech Writers

Subject: 'Old fashioned' Tech Writers
From: Leo Hill <leochill -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2004 06:26:25 -0700 (PDT)


With some amusement I have read the thread about how
the TW profession is going to go through (endure?) a
massive change.

Additionally, how there are companies that now believe
that 'not all features have to be documented' and
there is no need for a manual because no one reads
them anyway.

Perhaps this is the way that software TW'ing is
headed, but I work for a company that manufacturers
medical devices and sells internationally.

With FDA oversight and having to meet both FDA and EU
guidelines, our written manuals are not only read by
the care provider but are scrutinized by lawyers for
any inconsistency to try and ensure that we provide
every conceivable warning for use. Colons, commas and
other punctuation can mean the difference between
winning and losing a lawsuit.

So perhaps while the software TW's are in flux, those
of us that write manuals for machinery and actual
physical products are still plugging away making sure
that all the i's are crossed and the t's dotted along
with all the features documented.

Best,

Leo

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