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Actual pdf readers like Preview seem good enough to me. I don't understand why I would need to take a PDF and view it as HTML. I do see the value for formats l

by bobbyi 16y ago

Actual pdf readers like Preview seem good enough to me. I don't understand why I would need to take a PDF and view it as HTML. I do see the value for formats like .pptx where I may not have a reader, but PDF is already a "lowest common denominator" like HTML.

sesqu 16y ago
I've occasionally been thankful for Google's PDF conversion. PDF isn't a lowest common denominator - there are computers without that capability (kiosks and terminals, for example). What's more, PDF viewers can be pretty heavy, especially for fancy documents, and their browser integration tends to suck even when it exists. Sure, I like reading my PDFs with evince, but sometimes HTML is just preferrable.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
stanleydrew 16y ago
In ChromeOS you'll need some kind of pdf viewer that runs in the browser. And not needing a native app is pretty nice in general in terms of bookmarking possibilities.
- mbreese 16y ago
  Doesn't ChromeOS load PDFs into the Google PDF viewer?
earl 16y ago
Well, two of many reasons are adobe is run by morons incapable of making a secure or performant product. Unless you missed the wave of acrobat exploits? 'Cause my gf's laptop sure didn't :( Removing yet another plugin from your browser shrinks the attack surface, and as a side benefit, reduces use of one of the worst IMO bits of web tech.
Kadin 16y ago
Downloading a separate file and then launching an external application is obnoxious, particularly when it creates a new window. I know a lot of people who actively avoid and refuse to click on PDF links for that reason. I've always thought that the best solution would be for browsers to just include PDF rendering support alongside HTML. PDF is a popular enough format on the web that it should really be handled by the browser as a core feature, not by some add-on or external application. I really liked Apple's Safari for this reason (although I dumped it for Firefox because of AdBlockPlus). Done right it would seem like perhaps some of the higher-level rendering layers of the browser could be reused, regardless of whether the underlying content was PDF or HTML. (In fact isn't this how Safari works, with Quartz?) No offense to Scribd, but I'd like to see the need for their service go away by in-browser support for progressively-downloaded PDFs.

by bobbyi 16y ago

sesqu 16y ago

I've occasionally been thankful for Google's PDF conversion. PDF isn't a lowest common denominator - there are computers without that capability (kiosks and terminals, for example). What's more, PDF viewers can be pretty heavy, especially for fancy documents, and their browser integration tends to suck even when it exists. Sure, I like reading my PDFs with evince, but sometimes HTML is just preferrable.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

stanleydrew 16y ago

In ChromeOS you'll need some kind of pdf viewer that runs in the browser. And not needing a native app is pretty nice in general in terms of bookmarking possibilities.

mbreese 16y ago
Doesn't ChromeOS load PDFs into the Google PDF viewer?

earl 16y ago

Well, two of many reasons are adobe is run by morons incapable of making a secure or performant product. Unless you missed the wave of acrobat exploits? 'Cause my gf's laptop sure didn't :( Removing yet another plugin from your browser shrinks the attack surface, and as a side benefit, reduces use of one of the worst IMO bits of web tech.

Kadin 16y ago

Downloading a separate file and then launching an external application is obnoxious, particularly when it creates a new window. I know a lot of people who actively avoid and refuse to click on PDF links for that reason. I've always thought that the best solution would be for browsers to just include PDF rendering support alongside HTML. PDF is a popular enough format on the web that it should really be handled by the browser as a core feature, not by some add-on or external application. I really liked Apple's Safari for this reason (although I dumped it for Firefox because of AdBlockPlus). Done right it would seem like perhaps some of the higher-level rendering layers of the browser could be reused, regardless of whether the underlying content was PDF or HTML. (In fact isn't this how Safari works, with Quartz?) No offense to Scribd, but I'd like to see the need for their service go away by in-browser support for progressively-downloaded PDFs.