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Subject:RE: PDF vs. HTML From:"Christensen, Kent" <lkchris -at- sandia -dot- gov> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 15 Jun 2001 08:52:58 -0600
The real point of the distinction is the notion of trying to kill two birds
with one stone by fantasizing that one can make a presentation for computer
screen viewing that serves equally well as printed matter. In the most
frequently occurring cases of use of pdf on the Web, it's vice versa, of
course. There is just no reason other than laziness to use pdf for Web
pages and every reason to use it for the "printer friendly version."
I temper this by noting that not every Web page is an important presentation
requiring a printer friendly version, but still believe it's easier for the
reader to view an html page, if for no other reason than avoiding the 15
sec. delay for Acrobat to load and open the document. Also, it's far better
to put pdf on the Web than doc, or heaven forbid, xls, but, again, better
still to use html for the version the user will read on screen.
For tech writers, the best service to their customers is customization
rather than generalization--it's the professional thing to do.
PS: For tech writers that have spent many years producing matter mostly for
print, it wouldn't hurt at all to read Jakob Nielsen's ideas, which are
mostly about reading stuff on computer screens rather than paper. Some of
his ideas can transfer to print for sure. The list of all his "alertboxes"
is at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ A couple especially good ones are
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