Is the Pen Mightier than the Sword? Doc-To-Help Investigates
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help – the all-in-one authoring and publishing solution (www.doctohelp.com) – is putting their money where their mouth is by funding a research study to determine, conclusively, if the pen is, in fact, mightier than the sword. The Pittsburgh-based firm’s Doc-To-Help Product Manager Dan Beall believes that this is something to which the writing community – and the world at large – needs a definitive answer.
“Sales were strong last year and we felt like we needed to give back to the community,” Beall said. “Our customers use words and craft language to solve problems and provide valuable instruction that adds value to the international economy. There’s power there. And influence. I took a fencing class last year to compare the two and I wasn’t satisfied. I thought this study would be a better, more scientific way to find out definitively. I have my opinions, but I wanted to see what the experts have to say.”
The two leading academic researchers on the matter are split very decisively and each has a loyal following. Dr. Ellison Scimitar, Executive Director of the Scimitar Center at Bowie State University, staunchly supports the “sword is mightier” side of the argument. Dr. W. Quarles Ballpoint, Chief Researcher at the Quills Institute, believes very strongly that the pen is mightier. When reached for comment, Dr. Scimitar said, “How can you argue that the pen is mightier? I can chop your arms off before you can draw angry eyebrows on me!” Dr. Ballpoint prepared a written statement that had not yet reached our offices at the time of this release.
Since the leading experts are unable to see eye-to-eye and unwilling to caucus in order to discuss the matter rationally and conduct experiments, a group of third party research assistants from the West Virginia University has been commissioned by Doc-To-Help. “This group was working on a fire retardant fabric for couches and I wanted to pull them away from that,” Beall said. “When you think of everything the written word is capable of doing and how our customers use Doc-To-Help to create web, mobile, print, and desktop outputs for their customers, you begin to see the reach that it has. I’m excited to see the results.”
Outcomes of research could be devastating with the possibility of pens and writing utensils being banned by TSA. While the research assistants conduct their experiments, the world waits.
