HTML vs. PDF -Reply

[Steve Cramer]

>>> Sheryl Dwinell <dwinells at vmsb.csd.mu.edu> July
22, 1997  9:29 am >>>
"This is for those of you who've had to make the decision
to put up documents in either HTML or PDF. Specifically,
I'm interested in those who've decided to go with PDF. 
What were the benefits and drawbacks of putting up your
documents in PDF?"
-----------------------------------------
In "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking wrote that
(according to his editor) every equation in the book would
cut his readership by half. So Hawkings only included
E=MC^2 and took his chances.

I think that every plug-in a web site requires cuts
viewership by 2/3rds. Therefore I try to use HTML for
illustrated documents whenever possible. For highly
formatted documents, though, HTML simply can't
compare to PDF. (Often it's much less work to convert
documents into PDF instead of HTML).

I just started to use PDF for my college and the free-net I
volunteer for, so I can't report yet if our *patrons* find
PDF effective. I expect, though, that many people will
have problems.

Steve Cramer
Davenport College
Holland, Michigan USA
scramer at davenport.edu