From the President (by Cynthia Curl, published Thursday, 28 August 2008 19:56)
Hello, everyone. I hope you all are having, and continue to have, a great summer. Not long ago, I managed one trip back to the scorching heat of my native Texas. I was so glad to come back to Virginia’s lower temps!
As the weather begins to cool, the STC James River Chapter will be starting up a new program year, one that presents a number of challenges. We...
Election Results (by Helen Worthington, published Thursday, 28 August 2008 21:26)
Thank you to all who participated in the 2008-2009 STC JRC elections. Your participation enabled chapter continuity to position for revitalization. Welcome your new 2008—2009 STC JRC Officers:
President
Cynthia Curl
Cynthia served as Vice-President of the James River Chapter in 2007 and assumed the role of President...
JRC Area Job Postings (by Mary Williams, published Thursday, 28 August 2008 20:49)
Have you looked at Technical Communications job postings lately? Where do you look? How do you network? The national job sites do list jobs in the JRC area. Out of curiosity, I looked at two of these sites recently to see what they depicted for the JRC area job market (within 50 miles of Richmond) in the last 30 days.
The table shows the total results for the two websites. Do these observations match with your view? How can STC JRC help its membership and the...
Publicity: Who's Listening (by Helen Worthington, published Thursday, 28 August 2008 20:37)
…And Why (or Why Not)?
Publicity. Outreach. Marketing. Member2Member.
The specific term might vary, but the administrative council’s goal is the same—to keep you, our members, informed of chapter plans and activities. Chapter publicity should remind you of how your chapter participation can benefit your career, and help us figure out how to help you achieve your technical communication career goals.
The first task in developing any publicity plan is to identify the “target audience”. On the surface our target audience seems obvious—our 41...
Upcoming Events (by Mary Williams, published Monday, 25 August 2008 00:13)
Date
Time
Event
Location
Description
September 11
7:00 P.M.
On-line Program Meeting
Brent Hoard will present on Emerging Web Technologies & Social Web Media. See JRC website Events listing for Code and attendance.
October 9
7:00 P.M.
Admin Board Meeting
Ongoing
Member Survey
November 15
Newsletter Deadline
Submissions to The Watershed are due!
*tap*tap* Is this thing on? (by Jeb Hoge, published Tuesday, 30 November 1999 01:00)
I’d like to welcome me to the James River chapter of STC. I’ve recently renewed my STC membership after letting it lapse for a couple of years. I was a member when I lived in Northern Virginia, but because almost all of the “local” events took place clear on the other side of the Beltway, I went to two meetings in three years. However, I do not plan to be so lax this time around. I look forward to meeting some of you (or all if all of us ever actually congregate), and learning everything that I can.
Symantec Knows Best (by Don White, published Tuesday, 24 June 2008 07:33)
Haven’t Web evangelists evangelized that Web content and service providers will scramble to accommodate the needs and desires of Web users to offer additional capabilities and functions? Let’s look at one service and software provider—Symantec—and its flagship product, Norton Internet Security.
The Issue
One of the reasons I continued to use Norton Internet Security, despite my better instincts, is that its default states provided...
Curmudgeon's Corner (by Don White, published Tuesday, 30 November 1999 01:00)
A few years ago, when I served as the newsletter editor, I called my column the Curmudgeon’s Corner. I haven’t gotten any younger, and I definitely have not become either meeker or milder since leaving that role. So…
I hear it so often: “This chapter is so spread out, it’s impossible to…[fill in the blank].” Okay, so we have 60 or so members and so most of those...
Form or Content? (by Don White, published Thursday, 19 June 2008 14:59)
The Endless Debate…
I’ve been involved with technical documentation and writing since I left the US Navy, ’way back in 1987. And, it seems to me that those of us who are practioners of the art or craft continue to face the question of form vs. content. This is often framed in the context that form (grammar) is more/less important [pick one] than content. This was recently revisited on the TECHWRL site in an article by Bruce Byfield, “Tech Writers, Grammar, and the Prescriptive Attitude.”
Bruce discusses grammar and what he sees as its perception amongst technical writers, or “…the nature of grammar in general.”
The Deadly User Manual (by Dave Barry, published Sunday, 02 December 2007 23:23)
Why “They” Don’t Read the Manual
The topic of this column is a Washington Post story stating that manufacturers of appliances, computers, cars, etc., want to know why Americans don’t read their owners’ manuals. This column was authored by Dave Barry and published in the Miami Herald, June 30, 2002.
WARNING: THIS COLUMN IS INTENDED FOR READING PURPOSES ONLY. DO NOT USE THIS COLUMN AS A TOURNIQUET.
One big reason why consumers don’t read manuals is that the typical manual starts out with 15 to 25 pages of warnings, informing you of numerous...
Lineker Haiku (by Kathy Lineker, published Tuesday, 06 November 2007 01:19)
Kathy Lineker grew up in Chesterfield County and spent “way too many” years in Northern Virginia. When she returned, she planed to stay for good. Even if she ended up working at Ukrop’s. Kathy majored in communication studies at Virginia Tech, had six years’ experience in human resources and almost seven years’ experience in technical writing, editing, proofreading, and formatting. She submitted these gems that were published in the November–December 2004 issue of The Watershed.
Need health insurance?
Don’t get into contract work.
Too late? Don’t get sick.
Zingers (by Webmaster, published Monday, 10 September 2007 23:25)
Our Immediate Past President, Rob Murphy, zinged me with these:
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
A thief fell into wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, UCLA.
The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.
The geology professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture: a jab well done.
Need a Profreader? (by Don White, published Sunday, 02 December 2007 10:05)
I Will Profread Your Term Paper
Reply to:
Date:
Avid reader. Good speller. Will go over your schoolwork. Wont charge much iether.
Source: craigslist
Who can resist? Sign me down left away…
Job Opportunities (by Cynthia Curl, published Monday, 10 September 2007 02:16)
Our Chapter works with employers to publicize new employment opportunities for members. Positions can be advertised by qualified agencies and companies for full–time, contract–to–hire, and contract positions.
Technical communicators who are registered with this Web site may, and often do, use our Web site to help find employment or contracting...
The James River Mailing List (by Don White, published Monday, 12 May 2008 15:19)
We host an electronic mailing list, JamesRiverSTC, for technical communicators to exchange information about the varied fields within our profession and to receive notifications of chapter events. All are welcome to participate on this list. Click the link to join the list.
Subscribing to the List
In your browser, navigate to the home page for the JamesRiverSTC mailing list.
How to Upload Files (by Don White, published Monday, 12 May 2008 15:23)
We use DOCMan, a Joomla component or plug-in, to upload and manage documents. You can share these types of documents to others through this Web site:
Text files
MS Word files
Portable Document File (PDF) documents
Image (JPG, GIF, PNG) files
DOCMan is an open-source document management and download system for Joomla. With this component, you can manage documents across categories and make them available for download.
Features
The main features of DOCman are:
Infinite categories and subcategories. The documents can be organized across custom categories and...
Working with Photos and The Web (by Don White, published Wednesday, 25 June 2008 00:44)
Digital images and Web sites—it seems this should be so easy, yet it appears to be rather difficult. Part of the problem lies in the inescapable fact that placing an image in a Web site is just not like placing a photo in a photo album for the coffee table. You’re confronted by myths and realities, and the two seldom square. So, let’s take a look…
What You See Is Not Necessarily…
What you get. Web “pages” aren’t pages in the classic sense, of course. Particularly with this Web site, the...
Changing Details in Your Profile (by Don White, published Monday, 12 May 2008 15:28)
If you’ve entered something incorrectly when you registered your account, don’t panic! Just follow the steps below to modify your profile with the information you want to use.
Enter your username and password in the Login form.
Click Login.
Click Your Account. Your account details, or Profile, appears in the main...
Posting Jobs (by Cynthia Curl, published Thursday, 27 September 2007 19:32)
Employers and staffing firms should establish an account with this Web site first. Subsequently, the firm can go directly to the JobLine form and enter the data for the position they’re advertising.
Note: We review all material before publishing it on our Web site. We do not, however, verify or guarantee the accuracy of any information...
This is an auto-generated news mail, please do not respond.
Adobe Product Costs
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
A few days ago, I wrote a blog that I called “Has Adobe Lost Its Mind?” I was—and remain—disturbed at what I see as being priced out of the market for Adobe’s product line. I (finally) obtained the name and contact information for a senior member of the Adobe product development team, Mr. Michael Hu, and contacted him, asking for a response. Mr. Hu has been gracious with his response to my blog and I feel it important to present both sides of the issue.
On November 8, I sent this e-mail to Mr. Hu:
To: Michael Hu
Subject: An Open Letter to or about Adobe
Mr. Hu,
I understand that you are involved with the production and distribution of FrameMaker with Adobe. I don't mean to pick you out; yours is the only individual e-mail address I've been able to identify. It's my hope that you are able to bring my blog entry regarding Adobe and its pricing model to the attention of those at Adobe who may be able to answer me or our membership.
Hopefully, this doesn't include the legal staff at Adobe. After all, I didn't write this as a representative or STC or the James River Chapter. These are my own thoughts and feelings. I have tried to contact Adobe about its pricing but no one seems to wish to answer or defend it. Being ignored is the thing, it seems.
Anyway, thank you for your time and patience.
Sincerely,
Don White
The Conversation Opens
Mr. Hu responded on November 11th:
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2007 11:52 AM
To: Donald White
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe
Hi Donald,
Adobe sets its pricing according to the needs and dynamics of the market. In this context, the market is the aggregate of hundreds of thousands of individual purchase decisions. Only the individual themselves can make up their own mind on the cost-benefit of buying an upgrade. We provide a lot of information that individuals can use to inform themselves when making a decision, in ways such as posting content on the Adobe web site, conducting eSeminars, presenting at conferences and making trial downloads available. Through our research the overwhelming majority of our customers will decide the benefit of upgrading or buying new licenses justifies the price, but we recognize that some will not, or decide that other products fit their needs better. From a “market” perspective we think we have correctly balanced the price of FrameMaker and the Technical Communication Suite, given the significant value most customers will find in buying or upgrading those products.
By the way, please note that it would be more appropriate to look at the price of upgrading the Creative Suite from a single point product/application (e.g. Photoshop), when comparing with the price to upgrade to the Technical Communication Suite from, say, FrameMaker. Your comparison shows upgrade pricing from a previous version of Creative Suite to a new version of Creative Suite. When it is time to release the next version of the Technical Communication Suite, we will likely follow the existing Creative Suite model where there is different pricing when upgrading from a point product versus upgrading from an earlier version of the Suite. We didn’t introduce “Suite-specific” upgrade pricing of Technical Communication Suite 1.0 because it was the first version (no prior version of the Technical Communication Suite to upgrade from).
Product
Price
Upgrade
From “Previous Suite”
Upgrade
From a “non-Suite or point product”
Cost
if Purchased separately
Creative Suite 3 Design Premium
$1,799
$599
$1799
$3844
Creative Suite 3 Design Standard
$1,199
$399
$899
$2396
Creative Suite 3 Web Premium
$1,599
$499
$1399
Don't know off hand
Creative Suite 3 Web Standard
$999
$399
$799
Don't know off hand
Technical Communication Suite
$1,599
$999
$999
$3592
Also note that Acrobat 3D is a superset of Acrobat Professional – you get everything in Acrobat Professional, plus the extra benefit of the 3D Toolkit. Also, the Technical Communication Suite includes more than just the four point products. It also contains special integration between the products, representing a unique benefit over purchasing the products individually.
Thanks,
-MH
Why One Should Get a Life…Instead
One good e-mail merits another. Or, perhaps I thought I still had a case to make… In any case, I replied on November 10:
Sent: Saturday, November 10, 2007 9:48 AM
To: Michael Hu
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe
Michael,
Thanks very much for your note. I work with or contribute collegially with many professionals in this field, and we're almost uniform in our opinion that we've been ignored and priced out of the market for Adobe products. I wish it weren't so, but there it is. Most of us are independent contractors, whether we've set up our own companies or not. And, while we recognize the tax implications of purchasing licenses for tools we use professionally, that doesn't lessen the impact of purchasing a license for a new or upgraded product at the point of sale. In fact, that's why many of us feel we can no longer afford such a purchase.
My guess is that Adobe is doing a strong enough business to overlook our needs or the company would pay some attention to us.
And, I understand the differences between Adobe Acrobat Professional and Acrobat 3D. It's just that I (and no other technical communicator with whom I've corresponded) see a need to use the 3D version. Again, I acknowledge the probability that large enterprises, with marketing and technical communication as well as product development departments, find the increased tool set useful.
Whether for good or not, independent contractors purchase licenses for those tools they need, or for which they anticipate a need, given their experience within their own markets. For instance, in central Virginia, I'm happily shocked when I obtain a contract to produce large technical or marketing documents in FrameMaker instead of MS Word. Note that I didn't include structured FrameMaker documents here; XML and structured documentation are much more in demand in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina than in my region, between Norfolk VA and Washington DC. I cannot remember the first time I've been involved with AutoCAD or AutoCAD illustrations, either.
So, if Adobe marketed its products, individually or in suites (bundles) for two distinct types of customers, enterprises and individual practitioners, pricing might become more affordable to us. Until then, most of us will continue to work with older, and not-supported, versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, FrameMaker, and so forth.
This same reason guides my decision to have nothing to do with Web Works Publisher, too. So, I'm not picking on Adobe.
At least, until open-source alternatives appear. Already, many of produce documents with Open Office and deliver them to clients who want MS Word files.
If you give me permission, I'll quote your e-mail response entirely; I will not cut and paste bits or pieces or to make you or Adobe appear badly. That's not my goal.
Again, thanks very much for your note.
Sincerely,
Don White
Next
Mr. Hu responded yesterday, November 13:
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 12:21 PM
To: Donald White
Subject: RE: An Open Letter to or about Adobe
Hi Don,
Do you and your colleagues feel that you are priced out with other products from major software vendors? I wasn’t sure if you are aware but we have we have an aggressive $599 price point for education customers for the new Suite. I’m scratching my head a bit trying to figure out why the pricing is not competitive for the independent contractor. According to our research it is competitive for most technical writers. $999 for the upgrade vs $3592 if you purchased the full versions separately.
You aren’t paying a premium by having Acrobat 3D in the Suite. You might not need it now but you may need it for your next job. We realize that Acro3D is not used by all of our customers but it is used by a good number of customers in some industries. Recent press coverage on the new Suite.
“A Look at Adobe Technical Communications Suite”
This new software package will help you supercharge your CAD/BIM technical documentation.
Nov. 1, 2007
By: Scott Mackenzie
Publication: Cadalyst
I like this product suite and would like others in the AEC industry to know about it. In my opinion, it is a must-have for any CAD manager in a sizable AEC firm who is interested in creating high-quality technical documentation.”
Please feel free to post my response and I really appreciate you taking your concerns directly to me and providing me an opportunity to respond.
Thanks,
-MH
Fini
I guess that this is where this conversation ends. I had no illusion that my comments would result in a “sea-change” in Adobe’s pricing structure, resulting in significant discounts for independent contractors. Frankly, I’m just exasperated by the exponentially-rising costs of these products.
If you have any comments about the original blog or the exchange quoted here, send them to our newsletter Editor,
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, for inclusion in The Watershed.
Note: Okay, I slipped into the realm of techno-business jargon and used the dreaded phrase, sea-change. I should know better: I'm a former sailor and I never heard or used that term while afloat or submerged on any warship or submarine.
Hello, everyone. I hope you all are having, and continue to have, a great summer. Not long ago, I managed one trip back to the scorching heat of my native Texas. I was so glad to come back to Virginia’s lower temps!
Publicity. Outreach. Marketing. Member2Member.
The first task in developing any publicity plan is to identify the “target audience”. On the surface our target audience seems obvious—our 41...
Welcome to the 2008-2009 STC JRC chapter year!
We host an electronic mailing list, 
