Back to the Future: What Can Documentarians Learn From The Past?
summary
A history-driven argument shows how early documentation practices shape choices today: archives of Altair and PDP‑8 manuals are loose‑leaf binders updated by typing new sheets, engineers and writers iterate face‑to‑face, and one firm hires one technical writer among the first 13 Microsoft employees who creates manuals, marketing copy, and standards. Tool shifts matter — from manual typewriters to Framemaker — and present tensions are concrete: comprehensive mastery versus just‑in‑time documentation with schema.org debates about instructions versus recipes.
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chapters (26)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:55Open Source
- 1:30Acknowledgements
- 3:57Academic career
- 4:26Tech writing
- 5:50Research Materials
- 6:45Oral History
- 7:24Technical Writing
- 8:39Work Has Grown
- 9:23Engineers Learn
- 9:54Software Without Hardware
- 10:50The PTA
- 12:10The larger context
- 12:44First 13 Microsoft employees
- 13:22First personal computer
- 14:43MIT
- 15:57Altair
- 17:04Enemies Words
- 18:49Communication
- 21:54Mike Enriquez
- 22:54Software Documentation
- 23:25Framing
- 24:24Comprehensive Documentation
- 25:10JustinTime Documentation
- 27:00Schemaorg
- 28:15Conclusion
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