Computer user manuals in print: Do they have a future?

ABSTRACT

What sort of a role will the printed page play in the computer user manuals of the future? I believe that print does have a future in this area, but not perhaps the future we might have foreseen five years ago. At that time nothing was less controversial than the viability of print as a medium of documentation. That viability is in question now, and to show how the questioning developed I propose to examine its beginnings in the recent past. I shall then go into some detail on how the controversy about print is being maintained at present. Finally, I shall explain how I feel the controversy is likely to be resolved, by making four predictions about the future of computer user manuals, and those whose job it is to produce them.

INDEX TERMS

Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques
          Subjects: User interfaces
      D.2.7 Distribution, Maintenance, and Enhancement
          Subjects: Documentation

General Terms:
Documentation