Unsolicited Advice for Technology Writers (2014)
thefrailestthing.com
thefrailestthing.com
The list is a set of tired tropes which occur with some frequency.
It's short. There are links to expanded discussion. The context is a 10-year blog of the author's on the larger topic of technology and technological criticism, and yes, there's a book, pay-what-you-can, CC-licensed: https://gumroad.com/l/CWRfq
I might have added, substituted, or amended a few items, most especially that there is actually something of a history and philosophy of technological criticism, but that's me. The latter point is picked up in the blog at large and the book.
For an item I very nearly passed over on account of its original title, this is actually an intruiging find. Thanks to thomasbjeven for turning it up, and L.M. Sacasas for writing it.
And what follows is an ordered list. Of mostly unsubstantiated nonsense explained in bloated language. That opposite of what I'd expect from good tech writing.
Is this a satire? It feels like something out of McSweeney's.
Isn't it just a numbered list? You can number things, but that doesn't mean it's in order of importance, just the order it popped into the writer's head.
> Of mostly unsubstantiated nonsense explained in bloated language. That opposite of what I'd expect from good tech writing.
I agree. At first I thought this was for "tech writing" in the sense of user manuals. But this is for journalists. And it's more just a vague rant.
It is list of authors pet peeves, stuff he would like writers to follow. I did not found the language bloated, it was easy to understand.