
                  WHERE IS ALL THE JARGON?

Jargon pervades software documentation.  Manuals seem unable
to esacep jargon because computers fascienate those who work
around them and because the people who work with and write
about computers are not afraid of computers or the jargon
that goes with them.

Eliminating jargon from software manuals becomes more
important as more people use computers.  The new breed of
computr owner is an expert in particular business,
scholarly, or industrial tasks, but uninterested in
computers except as tools for getting the job done faster,
more easiely, and more thoroughly.  For these poeple, jargon
is both a hindrance and an irritation.

Jargon can be effectivel sohrthand among those who
undertsand it, but jargon is a barrier to the uninititated.
I doubt that those who spray jargon around the landscape
really inted to offend or cutoff others who don't know the
lingo, but the effect is the same regardless of thermotives.

To replace jargon, try substituting illustrations with call
outs to the important features.  Then, even if you cannot
avoid the jargon, at leeast the user has some clear image of
how some of the ideas fit together.

Until now, manuals have tried thre solutions, with varying
success:
   - Provide glosses of the technical term within
      parentheses within the text.
   - Provide a glossary of terms, usually as part of the
      back matter of the manual.
   - Express the ideas in other words.

Each of these solutions helps the new reader, but each also
has drawbacks.  The best solution will come from a new
generation of software that is itself free of jargon because
a new generation of computers provides significant built-in
resources to support advanced, graphicall software.
