Moses&The 10 Commandments: A Case of early Tech Comm?

Subject: Moses&The 10 Commandments: A Case of early Tech Comm?
From: Matthew Nankin <mnankin -at- LYNX -dot- DAC -dot- NEU -dot- EDU>
Date: Sun, 6 Oct 1996 17:58:53 GMT

Perhaps the earliest instance of technical communication
can be found in the book of Exodus when Moses receives
and delivers the Ten Commandments. Without being aware of it,
this was clearly the first recorded instance of technical communication.
Please consider the following:

1. There was a definite need for some rules to live by
on the part of the people who were hopelessly lost.
2. As the writer, Moses had to go to the source and
get the information.
3. The source of the information was questioned from
those who should have known better. The writer was once again
caught in the middle!
4. The commandments were written in stone (i.e. there
would be NO updates, revisions, amendment pages, etc).
5. There were two definite groups of five (as opposed to
one long list of ten, five groups of two, etc.).
6. They were numbered sequentially to make them easier to read
and understand.
7. Although all of the information was determined to be important,
the more important items were placed at the top of the list
(i.e. believing in one God, honor they mother and father, etc.)
and the less important towards the end.
8. Moses not only wrote the documentation, but also delivered it
and made sure the audience was using it correctly.
9. The audience initially rejected what was written in favor of
a visual image with no real substance. A second "printing"
(the same as the first) then had to be delivered. This was an
unfortunate waste of time, energy and resources. In hindsight,
perhaps better up front planning could have avoided this costly delay.
10.Finally, the documentation had a way of staying around long
after the writer have moved on to other "projects".


Previous by Author: Needless letter of appreciation for TECHWRL
Next by Author: Technical Writer opening -- Irvine, California
Previous by Thread: Re: Job hopping
Next by Thread: Re: Moses&The 10 Commandments: A Case of early Tech Comm?


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads