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The web is a great repository of HTML documents with hypertext. But there is so much more to it than that. So much content is locked away in PDF and DOC. I thin
by rantfoil 18y ago
The web is a great repository of HTML documents with hypertext. But there is so much more to it than that. So much content is locked away in PDF and DOC. I think Scribd is still a valuable service because for 90% of computer users out there, PDF/DOC to Scribd is still a more viable way to post specific quanta of content online than the vagaries of CSS/HTML.
- palish 18y agoHow can content be "locked away" inside any digital non-DRM format? The purpose of a format is to represent content, and that's what PDF/DOC does. Also, in regards to your other point, I find Dropbox's "copy public link" mechanism to be a far easier way to share content than to upload it to any website (not just scribd), because I don't have to use a browser in the first place. The content is already uploaded and ready to be shared.
- unalone 18y agoThe purpose of a format is also to make that content accessible. If somebody has no PDF reader, how do you send them well-formatted documents? The only thing that comes close to working is something like .ppt, but that's an ugly solution (and what if they don't have PowerPoint?). Scribd gives a nice medium where you don't need anything beyond Flash to view content. For a lot of people, that's very useful.
- palish 18y agoWhile I agree with you in spirit, in practice pretty much everyone has a PDF reader in addition to Flash.
- axod 18y agoSo instead of asking them to use a pdf viewer, you're relying on them having a flash viewer installed instead :/
- unalone 18y agoWell, Windows has Flash preinstalled but not Acrobat. I have a lot of friends who can't read PDFs; I can't, when I'm on Windows.
- rantfoil 18y agoOn the PC, It's a latency problem. Acrobat is such a disaster that you do have to WAIT before anything ever shows up. Scribd at least is far more instant.