Subject:Re: Why marketing should make the user manuals From:"Melissa Nelson" <melmis36 -at- hotmail -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Fri, 01 Sep 2006 10:28:58 -0400
I was at the air show in OshKosh, Wisc and there were a bunch of old World
War 2 and earlier airplane manuals for sale. Some of them were pretty
expensive. I am still kicking myself for not buying a couple of them. A lot
of them were made with such care and thought as to where to place pictures,
and many of them were just out and out pretty!
Maybe Susan is correct and all our word processors and layout software have
taken some of the art away from our Guides and Manuals.
Melissa
From: "Susan Hogarth" <hogarth -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Why marketing should make the user manuals
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 09:02:53 -0400
On 8/31/06, Bill Swallow <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
It all comes down to purpose and execution. User guides are not
intended to wow anyone. They're meant to educate. And, a B&W layout is
as appealing or as dull and boring as the designer wants it to be.
At an auction, I came across a beautiful old 16mm projector. Didn't
buy it, because our house is too cluttered already, but the manual
alone was almost worth the price it went for (around $20, I think). It
was -lovely- - slick B/W pages with -wonderful- drawings and diagrams
and beautifully written. The layout was beautiful - more polished than
many books of the period (1950s, I think). I'm not a luddite, but I
wonder sometimes if word processors and layout software have just
enabled people to do things sloppily with more ease...
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WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Easily create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to any popular Help file format or printed documentation. Learn more at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
