Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Apr 1981

The Computer and Technical Communication

William L. Benzon Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Abstract

The first section sketches a broad historical framework in which to understand the emergence of the computer and the profession of technical communication and sets the stage by concluding that the computer is both a part of the technological milieu which needs technical communicators and a tool which communicators can use. Then comes a brief review of computer applications in terms of numerical, nonnumerical, and communication applications and dumb, clever, and intelligent program functions. Then the author argues that advances in computer science will narrow the gap between writing computer programs and documenting them to the point where technical communicators in the software field will be programmers. The final section suggests that computing technology will give technical communicators professional autonomy comparable to that currently enjoyed by doctors and lawyers.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1981-04-01
DOI
10.2190/y0ta-l4hn-p2bf-j1gw
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication digital rhetoric book reviews
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Kaufman (1988)
    Technical writing and computer programming
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 2 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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