At 0 cost to install 1 click to drop, 1 click to cash in, technical writer will start making you a profit after your third install of hardware/software.
So clearly this is very deck dependent- If you run a lot of programs or hardware then technical writer can make you a nice stack of cash. If you don't then its going to sit there doing jack...
Technical writer loves Replicator as this things just keeps sending more install able cards and it loves Consumer Electronics, as they are cheap to install and push up the hardware density of your deck. I'm not sure that we love consumer electronics yet though... so I'll leave you to judge whether or not you think the writer is worth it because of these cards.
Technical writer also loves being stacked. A lot. Give me piles of technical writers and I'l shove them in a room and throw Bookmarks at them to make notes. Imagine a situation where you have 3 technical writers and install a bookmark; You just clicked once, installed a hardware and made 3 credits. Of course you need to click 3 times to retrieve those credits so i hope you have installed more than 1 bookmark before you tried to cash in....
As such technical writer is a card that not only requires the right deck, but the right timing. You need to install the thing early; before you install your programs and hardware. A Sure Gamble is a sure gamble at the start or the end of the game, a technical writer is glittering gold at the start and boring bronze at the end. Draw one or two towards the start of the match and you can swing 20 credits in 2 clicks. If your writers are sat the bottom of your stack, they are dead cards.
For this reason I think you need to include 3 writers in your deck if you go for them; just to make sure they turn up in time.
Caveat Levy AR Lab Access can save the late writer-i f you plan to install your stack then levy and do it all over again a late writer can give you a second wind.
An issue with the writer- because of the timing constraint on the writer (it has to come down early) if there is ever a widely accepted technical writer strategy.... the early install will telegraph your plans to your opponent.....
Final consideration is that you need to protect your writers as they accrue cash. Not much is bleaker than a 15 cred writer getting trashed....
IDs that might like technical writer:
Kate "Mac" McCaffrey: Digital Tinker- she wants to install programs and hardware at least once a turn; perfect. Noise: Hacker Extraordinaire- he wantsto install as many programs as possible Armand "Geist" Walker: Tech Lord- The breaking and entering suite means a lot of program installs over the course of the game Exile: Streethawk-Probably, I guess? I cant play him but it looks like a good fit
Overall I think its worth including in an install heavy deck, Those 20-30 credit 2 click swings midway through a match are incredibly powerful. -And of course a technically correct win is certainly the best kind of win... because you know... if not... you were cheating...