From Clipboards to Computers

The first time I sat down in front of a computer was during a high school programming class in the fall of '75. Well, I didn't actually sit in front of the computer: an IBM 360 filled an air-conditioned room next door. My interface was a keyboard that transferred my typing into punches in yellow paper cards. A stack of these cards made up a computer program. Placing them into the metal hopper of another machine would result in a stack of green and white striped paper output. Dropping a stack of cards (or in my case, having them pulled out of my hands by pimply-faced thugs) resulted in a tedious resorting process. I quickly bought a supply of large, heavy rubber bands.

Waiting for my first class to begin that day in 1975, I typed the immortal words "How far is it to Jupiter?" and waited for something to happen. Of course, nothing did. But during the next ten weeks I learned how to write a program that would answer my question. An encyclopedia could have given me the same answer in about two minutes, but having it spit out from the 360's printer supplied a much bigger rush. Obviously the computer world has changed a lot in the past twenty-five years, but I still get a similar rush whenever I see software enter a new field.

That happened last week during a visit to the Town & Country Resort in San Diego, where I was doing some final preparation work for the WinWriters 2000 Conference. My stay coincided with the annual gathering of the American Society of Home Inspectors. The conference attendees are hired by homebuyers to tell them whether the roof on their prospective purchase will survive the next rainstorm. Or, to make sure the heating system will make it through the next winter without bursting into flames. While poking around the conference, I learned that most inspectors are independent business people who work for the buyer, not the banks. In talking with some of the inspectors, I was surprised to learn that home inspection, as a recognized trade, is only about twenty years old. In 1979, just 20% of prospective homeowners had their houses inspected. Today that number is up to 70% (a number that still seems low, given an inspection only costs $200-300).

What was more surprising was the amount of computer technology being demonstrated at the conference exhibition. My mental image of a home inspector was of someone in coveralls poking around a basement with a flashlight and a clipboard. Flashlights were still in evidence at the exhibition, along with work clothes, tools, and other traditional tools of the trade. But the venerable yellow pencil and clipboard is quickly being replaced by hand-held data recorders. The inspector collects data onsite during the inspection, then back in the office transfers it to special PC software where it is turned into a detailed report and stored in a database. The software also provides assistance with scheduling, billing, and managing digital photos.

The use of the Web was also very much in evidence. Construction codes and building specifications are migrating to the digital world, where home inspectors can instantly access them via subscription-based Web sites. That sure beats collecting several cubic feet of dusty books, and of course software makes it much easier to search through mountains of information. Plus, the data can be loaded onto the home inspector's hand-held device for remote access. One company, specializing in inspection training videos, is even in the process of preparing their content for Web-based delivery.

While a few of the people I talked to at the conference joked about being computer illiterate, most of them thought the new technology would reduce the amount of drudgework. One woman also noted that if she didn't use the software to get an edge, her competitors surely would. And so it goes. Another industry is sucked into the maelstrom of the information age. Another software development niche is borne. And a new opportunity arrives for technical communicators to improve the user experience.