Re: N:Vision CFL's

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Jeff Volp" <JeffVolp@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:snHNh.191771$5j1.32144@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:wtmdnSruJahHmJrbnZ2dnUVZ_sSmnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
> > "Dave Houston" <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > news:460658e6.837921406@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >> For commercial users, PDF makes sense because they are not as easily
> >> tampered with as other formats. OpenOffice makes creating them easy
(and
> >> free) while Adobe supplies a free reader.
> >
> > They're completely over-used, IMHO, by folks too lazy to create an HTML
> > page.   PDF's are designed for mythical beings who possess with two,
> > vertically oriented, specially oversized monitors running side by side
> > from
> > a dual head graphics card. I always feel like I am wearing blinders when
I
> > read them because if I increase the magnification to the level where I
can
> > read the print, then I have to pan and scan like a madman.  If I truly
> > NEED
> > the information, I'll lower my security settings and DL one (and usually
> > print it out!).
>
> I have to agree with Dave here.
>
> PDF is pretty much the standard for distribution of technical information.
> I've got gazillions of PDF documents stored locally, and can conveniently
> access them whenever necessary.  No fancy monitor or graphic card is
> required.  I was using them years ago with a crappy graphics card and a
14"
> monitor.  A quick scan through my semiconductor "bookshelf" shows PDF
> documents dating back to 1996.  I do miss the old databooks though.

Technical documents probably lend themselves the most to "pan and scan" type
reading.  But PDF's are hardly device independent, and that was one of the
features of the web that made it so effective to begin with.  The HTML
browser lays out the page depending on your display and text size
preferences.  PDFs are a real bitch for the visually impaired compared to a
web page that allows for dynamic text re-sizing.  Based on the finely
detailed work in your XTB's, your vision is far better than mine.

What display settings are you using?  What size monitor?  I'll bet you're
running at much higher resolution than what I use.  I run at 800 by 600 on a
21" monitor and have problems seeing even at those settings.  My browser
settings are for "largest text" and most HTML pages correctly handle that
increased magnification and allow me to read without resorting to a clumsy
screen magnifier program.  That  minor difference alone can make the PDF
experience just fine for one person and agonizing for another.  That's even
before one considers how much more security exposure is required to view
anything that's not standard HTML in a web browser.

There may be no avoiding PDF's in the modern web world, but they're
dreadfully overused.  Web stuff should be HTML based.  Stuff like PDF's and
Active-X just add proprietary hooks to something that was designed to be the
ultimate "open system" and should be avoided just on general principle.  (-:
That's my take on it, anyway.

--
Bobby G.