From: Ian Ansdell [ian@peelcom.com] Sent: 12 February 2001 00:39 To: Gareth Subject: Fw: Net Style by Rob Norton: Why PDFs suck Hi Gareth Thought this might interest you! Ian ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nua Ltd" To: "Recipients of netstyle mailing list" Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 12:41 PM Subject: Net Style by Rob Norton: Why PDFs suck > ****************************************************************** > NET STYLE NET STYLE NET STYLE NET STYLE NET STYLE NET STYLE > Free weekly email on the emerging world of online publishing > By Rob Norton Email: netstyle@nua.com > Web: http://www.nua.com/netstyle/ > ******************************************************************* > February 07, 2001 Published by: Nua Ltd Volume 1 Number 9 > ****************************************************************** > > ADVERTISEMENT: CREATE > EDIT > PUBLISH WITH NUA PUBLISH > http://www.nua.com/nuapublish > > WANT TO TAKE THE PAIN OUT OF WEB PUBLISHING? > Wouldn't it be great if everyone in your company could publish to > your website in a simple but manageable fashion? Nua Publish gives > you that ability using industry standard technologies. If you can use > a web browser, you can publish content directly to your website with > Nua Publish. > To find out more and book a test drive, check out > http://www.nua.com/nuapublish > > ******************************************************************** > > WHY PDFS SUCK > > by Rob Norton > > Adobe's "portable document format" is a seductive technology, > especially for people who need to publish documents on the Web > without knowing much about web technology. In "PDF" Adobe's Acrobat > software stores and displays documents in such a way that they appear > with all their original typefaces, formatting, and graphics. On > certain kinds of websites, PDFs seem to be taking over the world. If > you visit the websites of Wall Street investment dealers or Madison > Avenue advertising agencies, you can barely scan a page or read more > than a few sentences without being prompted to download a PDF file. > > Which is a shame. Because the closer you look at the PDF approach, > the more you realize that it's a technology that, for most purposes, > is particularly ill suited to the Web. > > MAYBE IT WILL WORK--MAYBE NOT > > For starters, to view a PDF you must have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat. > True, Adobe will let you download a free version, but it's not the > latest one. There are lots of different versions of Acrobat kicking > around. What this means is that depending on your hardware, software, > and browser configuration, merely having a copy of Acrobat installed > does NOT guarantee that you'll be able to read a given PDF file at a > given time. > > Most of the time this author uses two reasonably state-of-the-art > computers--a Dell desktop and a Toshiba laptop. Each has an Intel > Pentium chip, Microsoft Office, and Adobe Acrobat. One routinely > opens PDFs without a hitch; the other will do so only if Acrobat is > already running, and even then, only unreliably. Few things are more > frustrating than trying to open a document and, after a blizzard of > keystrokes, winding up with a final error message that says: "The > plug-in did not initialize properly." > > More serious is the fact that PDF is not a web-friendly format. The > Web puts readers in control: YOU set the type size in your browser; > YOU specify the font in which you like to read. PDF puts the creator > of the file in control. The PDF file is like a photograph of a > document--much like microfilm, in fact. > > MINOR AND MAJOR PROBLEMS > > One minor problem with PDFs is that the "find on this page" function > of your web browser, which allows you to search for a specific word > or phrase, won't work on PDF documents. > > A major problem with PDFs is that search engines can't search text > that's inside a PDF file--thus obviating one of the greatest of all > the benefits of the Web. By putting a PDF file of your document on a > website, you're not putting the document on the Web--you're putting a > picture of it on the Web. The result is that on the Web, content > that's inside PDF files doesn't really exist. It's as though you put > a book in an old-fashioned library without letting information about > it appear in the card catalogue. > > Moreover, even web surfers who stumble across your PDF document > probably won't read it--because they can't look at it unless they > first opt to download it. This is like putting a magazine on the > news-stand in a shrink-wrapped package: you're asking prospective > readers to make the purchase without being able to first browse the > publication. > > A TOWERING BARRIER > > The "download first" feature is a psychological stumbling-block for > any potential reader, but for readers who access the Web via dial-up > modems--still the majority of web users--it is a towering barrier. > Downloading even a modest-sized PDF via modem can take many, many > seconds. Most web surfers won't wait for anything for more than eight > or ten seconds, according to usability studies. Experienced web > surfers will avoid clicking a PDF link at all unless they're > absolutely certain the document is exactly what they want. > > The PDF has its uses. For documents that must be in a precise format > for offline use--tax forms or schematics, for example--the PDF is > perfect. For long text documents that will be printed out for reading > rather than read online, PDF works okay (though this writer much > prefers Microsoft Word files). But if you plan to use PDFs on your > website, make sure the documents are fully described--with a good > headline and a descriptive, comprehensive summary--in readable, > searchable online text. > > > Rob Norton > > > NEXT WEEK: > "Sins of animation" > > For this and other Net Style articles, please go to: > http://www.nua.com/nkb/index.cgi?f=AI&art_type=STYLE > > > ******************************************************************* > > ADVERTISE WITH NUA > While Net Style will always remain free to the subscriber, Nua is > willing to talk to interested parties who want their message to reach > up to 250,000 people worldwide by advertising with Nua newsletters. > Contact: Kathy Foley > > ******************************************************************* > > OTHER NUA NEWSLETTERS > To view or subscribe to any of the following newsletters, please go > to the Nua Knowledge Base at http://www.nua.com/nkb/ > > NUA INTERNET SURVEYS has acquired an international reputation as > a leading source of information about Internettrends and statistics. > This weekly newsletter includes summaries of the week's news and a > sharp editorial that puts this news into perspective. > > NEW THINKING, penned by Nua CEO, Gerry Mc Govern aims to > contribute to a practical philosophy for the Digital Age. > > MAKING IT WORK examines changes in technology and how these are > impacting on the way business is done. It looks at how theory and > good ideas are being turned into worthwhile technology that saves > time and improves the way things are done.OTHER NUA NEWSLETTERS > > ******************************************************************* > > ABOUT NUA > > Nua is a leading provider of enterprise web publishing solutions in > the knowledge management marketplace. Nua's customers are large > organizations that want to create value and profit from their > information and knowledge. > http://www.nua.ie/products/index.shtml > > Nua has also established itself as a successful online > publisher--with Nua Internet Surveys, New > Thinking, Making it Work, and Net Style, Nua's ideas and thinking > reach over 250,000 people worldwide on a weekly basis. > http://www.nua.ie/nkb/index.cgi > > ******************************************************************* > UNSUBSCRIBING > > The Nua Net Style newsletter is a double opt-in mailing list, > meaning that your email address should only be on this list if you > requested subscription *and* confirmed your request by replying to > the authentication message sent to you by our list server, *or* if > you were a subscriber to the Nua Knowledge News newsletter on > December 12, 2000. > > To get off this list, send an email to: > mailto:netstyle-request@lists.nua.ie > with the word "unsubscribe" in the BODY of the message. > Alternatively, you can use the online unsubscribe function at: > http://www.nua.com/nkb/ > > In either case, a message from our list server, confirming that you > have been unsubscribed from the list, will be sent to you. > > > If you do not receive a confirmation message within a few hours of > making your request or if you experience any other problems with > unsubscribing from the list, then please send an email to: > mailto:owner-netstyle@lists.nua.ie > providing, where possible, the email address or addresses under which > you are subscribed. > > > ******************************************************************* > SUBSCRIBING > > To subscribe to this list, send an email to: > mailto:netstyle-request@lists.nua.ie > with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message. > Alternatively you can use the online subscribe function at: > http://www.nua.com/nkb/. > > In either case, you will be asked to confirm your subscription > request by replying to an authentication message sent by our > mailing list server. > > ******************************************************************* > > TECHNICAL QUERIES > Technical queries regarding the list should generally be addressed > to: > mailto:netstyle@nua.com with "Technical Query" in the Subject line. > > ******************************************************************* > > CONTENT QUERIES > Queries about content should be addressed to: Net Style > mailto:netstyle@nua.com > > ******************************************************************* > > NUA PRIVACY POLICY > Nua respects absolutely the privacy of every person visiting our > website or receiving one of our email publications. Nua has created > a privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to > your privacy, and the high value we place on your quality feedback. > For the full privacy statement: > http://www.nua.ie/about/privacy.shtml > > > ******************************************************************* > COPYRIGHT > > Net Style is copyright of Nua Ltd. While information is free > and we do encourage our readers to use this information to their best > advantage, we ask that you credit Net Style as the source of your > information whenever you use it and a hyperlink to > http://www.nua.com/netstyle is provided. We would, however, > appreciate it if you could contact us at > to let us know when and where you have used > our content. > > ******************************************************************* > >