4 ms·

Now you can upload your PDFs to Google Docs

19 points by markbao 18y ago

drawkbox 18y ago
PDF,,, ugh. The thing is about PDF is it is closed and I never understood why Flash gets so much beef but PDF flies under the radar. A collective groan when a PDF is opened happens across the internet as a consistent chorus. Flashpaper almost killed the PDF but Adobe bought Macromedia and then killed Flashpaper (which is now open and more indexable than PDF). Instead Flash paper died only to be picked up as a killer app portion of PGs companies like Scribd. I wish Adobe would drop PDF for Flashpaper, it is a format killer like FLV video was for Real, Quicktime, Windows Media etc etc that made video a horrible web experience. Flash paper came up instantaneously and is much better, if you want a compact format.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
  - drawkbox 18y ago
    True but in name it was supposed to be portable. They definitely got that right first, thus the prevailing winds but it is not the only format that prints well now and it is also not the only "portable" format. PDF was commonly used as a locked out portable format (unchangable) for "security" as well. Maybe ODF or Flash docs (now that SWF is open) will win out. I was just saying that Adobe essentially killed Flashpaper as it was starting to take hold, if you look at the history literally right after it hit the scene Adobe bought Macromedia.
    - markbao 18y ago
      Interesting that in the absence of Flashpaper, similar service iPaper (Scribd) is taking off.
      - unalone 18y ago
        I like iPaper a lot. I think that it does a very good job of displaying content, and it does it much faster than PDFs. At the same time, there're a few disadvantages: for instance, I can't fill out a form using iPaper. I think the three big things about iPaper that make it not-so-easily-adaptable ATM are as follows: first, you need to use Scribd to use iPaper, so it adds a layer of complexity; second, it doesn't integrate well into a web site's layout, so text has an advantage over it in terms of styling; third, and most importantly, when you embed iPaper it's impossible to read unless you click for a full view. That being said, I've been watching Scribd for exactly this reason. Hopefully, they have ideas for expanding it further and making it into an acceptable web format, for the sake of all of us logorrheics in the world.
- natrius 18y ago
  PDF is not a closed format. http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html
  - drawkbox 18y ago
    Sorry should have clarified, it is un-indexable without conversion. IN terms of open it is arguably an open standard. Controlled by a proprietary entity but puppeted as an open format.

19 points by markbao 18y ago

PDF,,, ugh. The thing is about PDF is it is closed and I never understood why Flash gets so much beef but PDF flies under the radar. A collective groan when a PDF is opened happens across the internet as a consistent chorus. Flashpaper almost killed the PDF but Adobe bought Macromedia and then killed Flashpaper (which is now open and more indexable than PDF). Instead Flash paper died only to be picked up as a killer app portion of PGs companies like Scribd. I wish Adobe would drop PDF for Flashpaper, it is a format killer like FLV video was for Real, Quicktime, Windows Media etc etc that made video a horrible web experience. Flash paper came up instantaneously and is much better, if you want a compact format.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
- drawkbox 18y ago
  True but in name it was supposed to be portable. They definitely got that right first, thus the prevailing winds but it is not the only format that prints well now and it is also not the only "portable" format. PDF was commonly used as a locked out portable format (unchangable) for "security" as well. Maybe ODF or Flash docs (now that SWF is open) will win out. I was just saying that Adobe essentially killed Flashpaper as it was starting to take hold, if you look at the history literally right after it hit the scene Adobe bought Macromedia.
  - markbao 18y ago
    Interesting that in the absence of Flashpaper, similar service iPaper (Scribd) is taking off.
    - unalone 18y ago
      I like iPaper a lot. I think that it does a very good job of displaying content, and it does it much faster than PDFs. At the same time, there're a few disadvantages: for instance, I can't fill out a form using iPaper. I think the three big things about iPaper that make it not-so-easily-adaptable ATM are as follows: first, you need to use Scribd to use iPaper, so it adds a layer of complexity; second, it doesn't integrate well into a web site's layout, so text has an advantage over it in terms of styling; third, and most importantly, when you embed iPaper it's impossible to read unless you click for a full view. That being said, I've been watching Scribd for exactly this reason. Hopefully, they have ideas for expanding it further and making it into an acceptable web format, for the sake of all of us logorrheics in the world.
natrius 18y ago
PDF is not a closed format. http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html http://www.adobe.com/devnet/pdf/pdf_reference.html
- drawkbox 18y ago
  Sorry should have clarified, it is un-indexable without conversion. IN terms of open it is arguably an open standard. Controlled by a proprietary entity but puppeted as an open format.