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Subject:Re: The future of tech comm: podcasting? -- YES! From:David Neeley <dbneeley -at- gmail -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 12 Aug 2005 15:34:49 -0500
Bruce,
One small quibble. The "biggest" picture is the one created in the
imagination. The largest screen is small compared to that.
Many years ago, I heard a commercial for the Radio Advertising Bureau
by the comedy team of Bob and Ray. It began with full sound effects of
a group of helicopters approaching a stadium in which there was a
baseball game in progress. Bob and Ray played announcers, who
described the helicopters approaching, with a large item slung beneath
them. As it drew even closer, they exclaimed "Why, it's a giant can of
whipped cream!"
All of a sudden, there was a "whoosh" that slowly drowned out the
crowd sound entirely--ending with a lone helicoper that came and
"plopped" (sound effect again) an enormous cherry on top.
Then, the sound effects stopped suddenly--and Bob remarked "Imagine
trying to do that on television!"
Video, in the end, is much more limited in scope than audio--which is
in turn more limited in scope than a printed page might be. As another
person put it, it's hard to really get the idea that a car is spacious
when all you can see is through a 27" screen.
With video, what I do like in software documentation are very brief
tutorials that demonstrate the operation of particularly significant
parts of the program. This is quite easy to create with any number of
tools; one of my favorites is Camtasia Studio.
David
On 8/12/05, Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axion -dot- net> wrote:
> You can't give the big picture in print as easily as you can in film,
> and you can't give detail in film as easily as you can in print -- it's
> as simple as that.
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