CompuServe Messages

Malcolm, So basically you are upset that there is no economy of words. All technical explanations become wordy, convoluted and moronic: SimpleSpeak. Your first example, however, would mean nothing to a large number (perhaps majority) of readers whereas the second gives them the basic understanding of why they should send their money. And spending money is the key. The problem with computers is that they DO require technical expertise and that, if anything, is why more homes don't have them. One shouldn't have to go through four years of computer science to be able to install the BellRinger 2000 or understand what it does. I think it's good that systems, and explanations about them, are becoming easier to install and maintain and for that reason the technical lingo can become more generalized. Your example of "Getting Started" on the surface sounds bad but if the facile information after 10 years is enough to achieve the same level of productivity then it has done it's job. It isn't the way the information is conveyed but the result which is important. There are, of course, problems with the lowest-common-denominator approach to information, of any type. It's like cars: when they first came out everyone fixed their own but now they have grown so complex that you are at the mercy of your mechanic, even for the simplest jobs. And some type of information, in any field, cannot be communicated in SimpleSpeak. But, IMHO, the conveyors of information should shy away from exclusive, elitist terminology were ever possible. However, publishers should still offer the option to delve more deaply into a topic with the use of Infoboxes, or in the future, hypertext-like elements. Andrew