Comments for Scriptorium Publishing http://www.scriptorium.com content strategy for technical communication Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:32:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 Comment on Answer seven (or fewer) questions about ebooks to win $50 by tim bombosch http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/02/answer-seven-or-fewer-questions-about-ebooks-to-win-50/comment-page-1/#comment-10843 tim bombosch Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:32:38 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=6973#comment-10843 A few more thoughts: * I am at the point that I never want to buy another biz book in print. They get old too fast, take up too much space, etc. * However, price is a factor. If I can go get something in print that's marked down or in the library, then the convenience factor of an iBook may be outweighed by price. I don't think an eBook should cost nearly as much as a printed one (Yes, I get the production overhead, but I'm also tied to that book on the type of device, can't share as easily, etc). * Thoughts on interactivity and file size: It's a great thing if the files don't get too big. However, because Kindle doesn't yet really support video and because the file sizes can get big, maybe you have URLs embedded in the book to get to the video? Or create an eBook option so folks can purchase one with the video embedded or one with just the URLs? I for one can't conceive of not being connected when using one of these books. Yes, I would prefer to use a WiFi connection rather than a cellular network, but that would also hit 90% of my usage of technical books. * What is most important, though, is that it be consumable on a tablet. I won't sit at a laptop and read some awful HTML rendering of a book. I want to carry these things around with me, read them on the couch at night or in the doctor's office or at Starbucks. If I'm at my desk and need them while solving the latest, "How do I do that in FrameMaker?" question, then I have my tablet as a separate device next to my machine and I just go back and forth between the two devices. * How many folks are bringing their personal iPads to work? That would be a really interesting datapoint. A few more thoughts:
* I am at the point that I never want to buy another biz book in print. They get old too fast, take up too much space, etc.
* However, price is a factor. If I can go get something in print that’s marked down or in the library, then the convenience factor of an iBook may be outweighed by price. I don’t think an eBook should cost nearly as much as a printed one (Yes, I get the production overhead, but I’m also tied to that book on the type of device, can’t share as easily, etc).
* Thoughts on interactivity and file size: It’s a great thing if the files don’t get too big. However, because Kindle doesn’t yet really support video and because the file sizes can get big, maybe you have URLs embedded in the book to get to the video? Or create an eBook option so folks can purchase one with the video embedded or one with just the URLs? I for one can’t conceive of not being connected when using one of these books. Yes, I would prefer to use a WiFi connection rather than a cellular network, but that would also hit 90% of my usage of technical books.
* What is most important, though, is that it be consumable on a tablet. I won’t sit at a laptop and read some awful HTML rendering of a book. I want to carry these things around with me, read them on the couch at night or in the doctor’s office or at Starbucks. If I’m at my desk and need them while solving the latest, “How do I do that in FrameMaker?” question, then I have my tablet as a separate device next to my machine and I just go back and forth between the two devices.
* How many folks are bringing their personal iPads to work? That would be a really interesting datapoint.

]]> Comment on Answer seven (or fewer) questions about ebooks to win $50 by tim bombosch http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/02/answer-seven-or-fewer-questions-about-ebooks-to-win-50/comment-page-1/#comment-10842 tim bombosch Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:21:22 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=6973#comment-10842 Kindle and iBooks are the only readers I care about. iBooks 2.0 supports more interesting features, but requires IOS5, which even for iPad 1 users is questionable. Kindle and iBooks are the only readers I care about. iBooks 2.0 supports more interesting features, but requires IOS5, which even for iPad 1 users is questionable.

]]> Comment on Webcast: Trends in technical communication, 2012 by TechWhirl: Technical Communications Recap for February 3, 2012 http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/02/webcast-trends-in-technical-communication-2012/comment-page-1/#comment-10809 TechWhirl: Technical Communications Recap for February 3, 2012 Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:47:23 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=6957#comment-10809 [...] into a discussion about “Tech Comm Trends,” which referenced the popular and worth-listening-to webinar delivered by Char James-Tanny and Sarah O’Keefe.Kevin McLaughlin had one of those word usage questions when he asked the list whether one of two [...] [...] into a discussion about “Tech Comm Trends,” which referenced the popular and worth-listening-to webinar delivered by Char James-Tanny and Sarah O’Keefe.Kevin McLaughlin had one of those word usage questions when he asked the list whether one of two [...]

]]> Comment on Events by Webcast: Trends in technical communication, 2012 | JTF Associates, Inc. http://www.scriptorium.com/events/comment-page-1/#comment-10765 Webcast: Trends in technical communication, 2012 | JTF Associates, Inc. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:41:17 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/wpress/?page_id=997#comment-10765 [...] the webcast recording. And visit the Scriptorium site for more videos and to see the list of upcoming events. This entry was posted in JTF Associates, Speaking Engagements and tagged Scriptorium, trends, [...] [...] the webcast recording. And visit the Scriptorium site for more videos and to see the list of upcoming events. This entry was posted in JTF Associates, Speaking Engagements and tagged Scriptorium, trends, [...]

]]> Comment on The PDF roadblock by seo http://www.scriptorium.com/2011/04/the-pdf-roadblock/comment-page-1/#comment-10756 seo Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:40:20 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=5349#comment-10756 Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My website is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Many thanks! Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My website is in the very same area of interest as yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Many thanks!

]]> Comment on Events by Messages from Sponsors — January 2012 | I'd Rather Be Writing http://www.scriptorium.com/events/comment-page-1/#comment-10740 Messages from Sponsors — January 2012 | I'd Rather Be Writing Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:08:26 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/wpress/?page_id=997#comment-10740 [...] Review the entire events list [...] [...] Review the entire events list [...]

]]> Comment on Webcast: Content strategy in technical communication by Messages from Sponsors — January 2012 | I'd Rather Be Writing http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/01/webcast-content-strategy-in-technical-communication/comment-page-1/#comment-10739 Messages from Sponsors — January 2012 | I'd Rather Be Writing Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:06:28 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=6838#comment-10739 [...] Thinking about content strategy? Check out Scriptorium’s latest webcast recording: http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/01/webcast-content-strategy-in-technical-communication/ [...] [...] Thinking about content strategy? Check out Scriptorium’s latest webcast recording: http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/01/webcast-content-strategy-in-technical-communication/ [...]

]]> Comment on FrameMaker 10 review by Sarah O'Keefe http://www.scriptorium.com/2011/01/framemaker-10-review/comment-page-1/#comment-10738 Sarah O'Keefe Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:55:41 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=5013#comment-10738 @Eddie: There are some updates. Adobe released a patch that fixes CMYK issues. I haven't tested it, but I also haven't heard any screaming from others, so I'm optimistic. Regarding CMS connectors, several of the CMS vendors have produced connectors on their side that link to FrameMaker. @Eddie: There are some updates. Adobe released a patch that fixes CMYK issues. I haven’t tested it, but I also haven’t heard any screaming from others, so I’m optimistic. Regarding CMS connectors, several of the CMS vendors have produced connectors on their side that link to FrameMaker.

]]> Comment on FrameMaker 10 review by Eddie VanArsdall http://www.scriptorium.com/2011/01/framemaker-10-review/comment-page-1/#comment-10735 Eddie VanArsdall Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:44:00 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=5013#comment-10735 Hi Sarah, and Happy New Year! A year has passed since you published this review. I'm curious as to whether Adobe has resolved any of the issues or if they have tweaked some of the "feature enhancements" since you wrote this review last year. Cheers, Eddie V. Hi Sarah, and Happy New Year! A year has passed since you published this review. I’m curious as to whether Adobe has resolved any of the issues or if they have tweaked some of the “feature enhancements” since you wrote this review last year.

Cheers,
Eddie V.

]]> Comment on DITA reporting tools in oXygen by Patrick Quinlan http://www.scriptorium.com/2012/01/dita-reporting-tools-in-oxygen/comment-page-1/#comment-10720 Patrick Quinlan Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:00:44 +0000 http://www.scriptorium.com/?p=6561#comment-10720 Hi Sarah, How cool! I had no idea this report existed. At Citrix, we developed a QA plugin that let's you report on your content in a similar way, except that you can check terminology, conditions, tagging, and other stuff. It generates a color coded HTML report, and provides a dynamic pass/fail mechanism. We recently posted the plugin on sourceforge. You can see more information at ditanauts.org. Patrick Hi Sarah,

How cool! I had no idea this report existed. At Citrix, we developed a QA plugin that let’s you report on your content in a similar way, except that you can check terminology, conditions, tagging, and other stuff. It generates a color coded HTML report, and provides a dynamic pass/fail mechanism. We recently posted the plugin on sourceforge. You can see more information at ditanauts.org.

Patrick

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