Who Are We Still Writing Technical Articles For?

The author says technical articles still have readers, but the audience is smaller and more selective than before. He contrasts short-lived tutorials with texts that document decisions, experience, and reasoning, which can keep getting read over time.

He also argues that AI can help with structure and rewording, but it cannot replace lived experience or real thinking. For him, the value of technical writing now lies in public reflection, continuity, and writing for readers who want understanding rather than only immediate answers.

Reading notes

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• The author revisits the question of whether there is still interest in technical articles and answers that yes, but not for everyone.
• He observes that some texts disappear quickly, while others keep being read for years when they record an approach, a technical decision, or a real problem.
• For him, the abundance of digital resources has shortened the lifespan of technical content and changed the way of writing.
• He distinguishes between technical news, which serves the present, and denser reflective texts, which reach a smaller but faithful audience.
• The author states that artificial intelligence has expanded the production of empty content, but did not create this problem.
• He says he uses AI to structure, rewrite, and validate hypotheses, but always from his own research, experience, and trajectory.
• He explains that he stopped writing tutorials as the center of his production because other formats and tools do that faster and because very specific tutorials become outdated quickly.
• For him, writing still allows measured reflection, rereading, precise citation, and continuity over time.
• The current focus has become documenting approaches, technical choices, experience reports, and thought processes.
• He writes for a smaller audience, made up of people who build, think, and look for experience reports, not just immediate answers.
• Publishing instead of keeping private notes forces him to clarify and structure thought.
• The choice to write substantive technical articles is presented as consistent with the way he works and thinks.