RE: FrameMaker 2005 Chautauqua -- November 7-9, Raleigh NC USA

[Larry Kollar <Larry.Kollar@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> I also don't understand the complaints - perhaps they arise because FM
> doesn't have drag-and-drop or AutoCorrect like Word, which are neat
> bells and whistles.
> Just last week, a TC at another company told me that her boss didn't
> agree to let her purchase FM. One of the main reasons was that he was
> afraid of FM's learning curve.
> What "learning curve"? What "odd GUI?" These have to rank among the
> biggest myths in Technical Communication. I first worked with FM about
> 12 years ago (it had a tutorial bundled in the application then) but was
> up and running in a day.

I have to agree as well. When I took this job, the supervisor asked me
if I knew Frame. I said I didn't, but I'd never had a problem learning
how to use new writing tools and didn't expect to have much trouble
with Frame. I got the job, and was banging away almost immediately. In
my experience, it takes as much effort to learn a new company's style
setup as it does to learn a new writing tool.

What almost all non-writers (and many writers) don't understand is that
a professional writing tool *needs* a different UI. A tool geared for
people typing memos isn't the most efficient tool for people writing
for hours a day. Frame & LyX (and some of the document-oriented XML
editors) are the only writing tools I've seen that are built around this
obscure but important fact. I've never seen Epic, but I'm sure they "get
it" too.

--
Larry Kollar, Senior Technical Writer, ARRIS
"Content creators are the engine that drives
value in the information life cycle."
    -- Barry Schaeffer, on XML-Doc


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