Authoring Challenges in a Multiplatform World

1. Authoring Challenges in a Multiplatform World Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

2. Monochrome books: Series editor. 1992 1996 2008 1998 1995 1996 2002- Adaptation for PDF: Designed, supervised. Monochrome books: Co-wrote. 1996 Adaptation for HTML on CD: Designed, supervised, wrote new content. Multi-platform book: Writing, designing, agonizing. 2001 2008 2008 2005 2010? Two-color books: Wrote, created diagrams, indexed, typeset, wrote bcc. Monochrome and multi-color articles for print and web: Wrote, created diagrams. 1983- What do I Know? Monochrome books: Wrote, created diagrams, indexed, typeset, wrote bcc. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

3. What's in here… …affects how easy and effective these transitions are The Vision and Why Authors Matter Printed book Computer screen Portable electronic book reader Manuscript from author Multipurpose portable device Audio device Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

4. The Goal • Platform-agnosticmanuscript fromauthor. • Facilitates: • Exploitation ofplatforms' strengths and capabilities. • Accommodation of their weaknesses. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

5. Some Platform Variations Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

6. Conventional manuscript from author What Works Poorly • Authors design/write books that are: • Static • Monochrome • Page-based • Visible • Other formats suffer. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

7. What may go in a Platform-Agnostic Manuscript? • Anything that “works” in printed form. • The usual suspects: • Text, diagrams, tables, photographs, etc. • In addition: • Color • Video/Animations • Expository animations: OK. • Talking Heads: typically OK. • Other: often not. • Audio • “Speaking Voices”: typically OK. • Songs: often OK. • Music: typically not. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

8. Challenge: Adopting New Tools • New expository tools: • Color, video/animations, audio • Authors need to learn: • What works where? Why? • What doesn’t? Why not? • As true for novelists as for technical writers. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

9. Adopting New Tools • New software tools to create/capture/edit: • Video/animations • Audio/video files and streams • Color application/manipulation • Capability-dependent content and formatting • The more authors do themselves, the more expertise they’ll need. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

10. Challenge: Capability-Dependent Content • TTS does a decent job on prose†: • Tables not so much†: • Graphs, diagrams, charts, etc., are similarly troublesome. In the table immediately below, you can see how the cat_family groupings have performed (total units) both by quarter and yearly results. † From “State of the Computer Book Market, Part 2: The Technologies,” Mike Hendrickson, O’Reilly Radar, February 22, 2008, http://radar.oreilly.com/2008/02/state-of-the-computer-book-mar-20.html. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

11. Capability-Dependent Content • Authors should provide capability-dependent content when appropriate, e.g., when • Only part of a table is really important and • The output device has a small or nonexistent display: If such objects are not optimized away, Table 1 demonstrates that their size could be significant (up to many thousands of bytes per feature set), an artifact of the use of virtual inheritance in the current implementation. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

12. Challenge: Capability-Dependent Formatting • Authors should provide capability-dependent formatting when appropriate, e.g., when • Color most effectively communicates something, but • Some target platforms lack color. void g(MakeFeatures<tepsafe>::type features){ int xVal, yVal; ... f(xVal, yVal, features); ...} void g(MakeFeatures<tepsafe>::type features){ int xVal, yVal; ... f(xVal, yVal, features); ...} Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

13. Capability-Dependent Formatting • The more colors, the less practical to use line styles, etc.†: † Figure 8-12 from Thomas Erl, SOA Principles of Service Design, Prentice Hall, 2008. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

14. Aside: Personalized Formatting • Conditional formatting allows per-reader “POD” formatting. Uses: • Gratuitous personalization :-) • Effective color combinations for color-blind readers. • Natural color combinations for different readerships: Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

15. Challenge: Cross References and Links • References to page numbers are problematic: • Not all platforms are page-based. • John Broughton: “Page numbering (hardcopy has page numbers, a wiki does not) was particularly problematical.” • Different platforms may have different page breaks. • Inhibits communication among readers on different platforms. • Authors should minimize references to page numbers. • Number paragraphs instead? • Similar to legal codes. • The Iliad and The Odyssey use book/line. • The Bible uses book/chapter/verse. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

16. Cross References and Links • References to platform-dependent descriptors are problematic: • “…the photo in the upper right…” • “…the diagram on the facing page…” • “…the red line in the graph…” • Authors should use capability-dependent content instead. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

17. Cross References and Links • References/links truly helpful only when referents are present. • URLs largely useless off-line. • “Old” URLs often close to useless anyway. • “We’ve reorganized our site…” • Internal xrefs inhibit partial book sales: • E.g., chapters, recipes. • “Continuing with the example of Chapter 2…” • But xrefs and links are useful! • Create “smart” references/links that (optionally) appear only when referent is available? Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

18. The Role of Publishers • Experiment • Encourage thinking beyond “black text on white pages.” • Learn what works (or doesn’t) where – and why. • Collect Experience • Across authors, genres, “consumerships.” • Disseminate Information • Share results with authors. • Create guidelines, templates, software recommendations and quick-starts, etc. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

19. Summary • Effective multiplatform publication requires author cooperation. • Designing/writing for print and “porting” to other platforms is a poor approach. • Specific challenges include: • Adoption of new expository and software tools. • Expression of capability-dependent content. • Application of capability-dependent formatting. • Specification of cross-references and links. • Publishers should experiment, collect experience, and disseminate the lessons they learn. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

20. Further Information • “The Fastware Project,” Scott Meyers, Blog, http://fastwareproject.blogspot.com/. • Entries for November-December 2008 are most relevant. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/

21. Roundtable Tonight • 7:30 PM, Broadway North (6th Floor) • Topics: • Everything in this talk. • Facilitating community: • How book content can fosterpost-publication discussion. • Revision issues: • Automated builds. • Offer readers deltas, older versions? • Anything else that comes up. Scott Meyers, Software Development Consultanthttp://www.aristeia.com/