For $10 a year, you can become computer literate and support professional technical writing. The Computer Language Company is the only company in the world dedicated entirely to writing a
computer encyclopedia.

Hello,

I'm Alan Freedman, author of Computer Desktop Encyclopedia (CDE).

Initially called The Computer Glossary, I've been writing CDE for more than 30 years, and I'm getting better at it every year. Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne said more than a century ago that "easy reading is damn hard writing!" He surely didn't have computer concepts in mind, but writing anything that's easy to read takes a huge amount of work.

Believe me. After 51 years in the field, I still find reading technical articles difficult. The reading doesn't get any easier for me, and a lot of it is downright painful. The people who write the articles are often brilliant engineers who know their stuff inside and out. But, they spend their time inventing, designing and programming, not writing. Writing takes as much or even more time to master than computer programming. I know because I'm a programmer too. That's how I got my start. However, programming is under the covers. Users don't have a clue whether a program is designed well or is a nightmare to modify, but you are all experts in evaluating my work. If what I write makes sense right away, you darn well know it.

I write CDE for both novice and professional, and I try to get the relevant points across quickly. I am consistent in my use of technical phrases, so no matter whether you're looking up an IT concept or an A/V connector, there are threads of continuity that run through all the definitions. I'm also aware of how people use terms, and I'll point out both correct and incorrect usage.

The Internet has changed the mindset. All of a sudden, millions of people can publish anything on the Web, and professional journalism is being ground into the dust. But in the technical world, it "ain't that simple." For decades, people have complained about instruction manuals impossible to follow, about online help that doesn't help and about undecipherable technical documentation. And they're still complaining.

Hard to believe but the Computer Language Company, which includes me, my wife and three part-time contractors, is the only company in the world dedicated entirely to the professional writing of a high-tech encyclopedia. We've been in business for 32 years, because we help people make sense out of this industry. We sincerely thank you for your support.