The Rules Are Changing--

Want to get excited again about being a technical communicator? Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE&eurl=

The title is "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us," and it is an extraordinary piece by Michael Wesch, a social anthropologist from Kansas State University.

And there is this piece: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/20070123_STATEOFUNION.html. Think of it as Tufte online. (BTW, Tufte is also from Kansas, hmmmm.)

It reminds me that we have a whole new level of interacting with users, and we should be applying those new possibilities to user assistance.

But every force has its dark side. You hated Clippy? Look what Microsoft is doing now!
http://www.msdewey.com/.

Successful user assistance is like a three-legged stool: Respect the content, respect the technology, respect the user. Ms. Dewey misses the last leg.