Uncategorized – Steven Jong

A Requiem for STC

I am predictably and deeply bummed out over this news.

The Prudent Technical Writer: AI and Credibility

The tech world is agog with the capabilities and potential of artificial intelligence. AI is the hottest trend in decades, and pundits are all over the map predicting the scope of its impact. Every white-collar job, from the call center to the CEO’s office, can possibly be augmented, replicated, or outright replaced by AIs. DependingContinue reading “The Prudent Technical Writer: AI and Credibility”

The Prudent Technical Writer: What’s Style Got to Do With It?

The value of a style guide is well-established across many writing domains. A style guide standardizes presentation across content and contributors in an organization. Creating a style guide is an important step in the maturation of a technical writing team. The bigger the group, the greater the need, but even a sole contributor should createContinue reading “The Prudent Technical Writer: What’s Style Got to Do With It?”

The Prudent Technical Writer

My father worked at many different jobs in his life. He wound up as a technical writer at Raytheon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, documenting the Hawk, Sparrow, and what became the Patriot missile systems. As it has transpired, I became a second-generation technical writer and spent a full, 40+ year working lifeContinue reading “The Prudent Technical Writer”

AI Comes for Creatives

Four teenage boys setting pins by hand in a New York City bowling alley, 1910, under the supervision of a boss

Hay farmers, pin setters, telephone operators, copyeditors, technical typists, technical illustrators—are we next?

On to Retirement

On New Year’s Eve 2022 I walked out of a deserted office and into another phase of my life. I don’t think of it as going “off” to retirement but rather going on to something new. Some retirees say they got out “just in time.” My wife, who retired from a hospital lab in JanuaryContinue reading “On to Retirement”

A Fresh Start

2020 has been an awfully eventful year. I’ve been fortunate enough to work from home since March, and we’ve essentially been hiding in our home since then. I bought a new car in September and haven’t yet put any gas in the tank. (It’s a Prius Prime, but come on—it still shows the tank asContinue reading “A Fresh Start”