In my half century as a technical communicator, I have seen many changes. The profession has evolved from one that supported the work of engineers and programers to one that stands on its own, providing important tools and capabilities to audiences. I too have evolved within the profession—from someone who had little idea what technical communication was, to a practitioner, to an educator. The changing nature of the profession and my participation in it has made for an exciting time—our profession is anything but dull.

Hypermedia, the facility for presenting information as a combination of text, pictures, animation, sound, and full‐motion video, provides exciting new opportunities for presenting information to our audiences. It may also, however, place additional cognitive load on them and may change the way they process the information presented to them. Those who write for hypermedia applications may need to change the way they look at the writing process, and those who teach writing may need to reconsider what they teach and what they choose to emphasize. Additionally, teachers who use hypermedia materials may need to be sensitive to students’ ways of approaching and using the material.

Producing computer documentation today involves more than just writing. Today's computer documentation specialists must draw on a wide range of multidisciplinary skills to produce an effective documentation package. Beyond knowledge of the underlying computer technology and the necessary writing skills, they must also draw upon pertinent concepts from marketing, user psychology, graphic design, screen design, usability testing, and the product development cycle.

A description is given of two ways in which technical writers can use computers to cut and paste more efficiently. The first method, retrieving information from online databases, is really just a more efficient way of doing something that has been done before. The second method, using `model components' to generate customized information from descriptions stored online, is new. It enables technical writers to create and tailor information as it is being included in a draft and significantly affects the way technical writers do their job.