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This isn't the first time I've read a comment criticizing PDF, but it is the first time I can recall the Portable Document Format (PDF) being accused of low por

This isn't the first time I've read a comment criticizing PDF, but it is the first time I can recall the Portable Document Format (PDF) being accused of low portability.

seanw444 2y ago
Yeah that is ironic regarding both the name, and the fact that it's one of the most viewable formats on any given system.
- deskr 2y ago
  > most viewable It is, but the UX trying to read a A4/letter sized PDF document on a phone is absolutely horrible.
  - sophacles 2y ago
    This is basically the same reason I think sports cars are horrible... trying to fit a 10 ton roll of steel in the backseat is nearly impossible.
    - deskr 2y ago
      It shouldn't be. 10 tons of steel takes up just about 1,300 litres. That should fit nicely in the back seat. Remember to secure your load.
      - MikeTheGreat 2y ago
        > Remember to secure your load I don't know much about steel coils, and I'm hoping that something that fits in your back seat isn't as dangerous as those featured in YouTube videos, but the idea that the primary concern is just strapping the thing down is kinda funny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6pn8n7MeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6pn8n7MeY https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDGfk-dOjq8 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDGfk-dOjq8 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steel+coil+unwinding https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steel+coil+unwi...
    - nox101 2y ago
      No one wants to carry a 10 tons rol of steel in a sports car. The majority of people getting a PDF on their phone though, do want to be able to read the information in it easily and they can't. So no, that's not the same type of complaint
  - drekipus 2y ago
    only a4 sized pdf. You can make a phone-sized PDF and it'll be just fine. it's not the file format.
    - chrismorgan 2y ago
      And then the experience on a larger screen will be bad.
    - rixed 2y ago
      It is, unless PDF supports reflow?
      - sethammons 2y ago
        By design it doesn't. It is a stated goal.
- esperent 2y ago
  Shouldn't "portable" in the context of a document format mean "comfortably viewable on most systems" rather than "yeah you can view it but it's gonna suck and you'll get eye strain"?
  - metadat 2y ago
    I believe this is called "responsive design", a useful but differentiated concept. It's pretty cool how PDFs don't typically load resources from an external website or CDN. They are self-contained, and thus demonstrably portable. Gross analogy: Have you ever been to a multi-day music festival? A port-o-potty in the dark is disgusting, but still somewhat useable compared the alternative of going to the bathroom in public. PDF artifacts are in the same ballpark.
    - seanw444 2y ago
      Also, I think I'd personally dislike a "portable document format" that doesn't look identical on all systems. By making it visually identical everywhere, you of course sacrifice comfort on smaller screens by nature. But to me that's an acceptable tradeoff for knowing I'm looking at the document, as it was intended to be displayed. I don't think of PDFs the way I think of websites. My physical papers don't reflow text.
nox101 2y ago
I'd call it low-portability. They're designed for large screens yet they're often viewed on phones where you need to manually zoom in and view each page some tiny portion at a time. Was at a restaurant with a QR code that led to a PDF if their paper menu. It was horrible. For reference it was the Ralph Lauren Cafe in Omotesando Tokyo.
- musicale 2y ago
  Large screen phone + landscape mode if needed usually works for me.
- sethammons 2y ago
  A pdf should not reflow nor be responsive. Aside from zoom/pan, how else could you possibly interact? I think it works fantastic, like holding a magnifying glass and panning around a surface
  - wittjeff 2y ago
    https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reading-pdfs-reflow-accessibility-features.html https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reading-pdfs-reflow-ac...
    - lostlogin 2y ago
      Oh wow, that’s awful. ‘Like the web, but on a pdf and done entirely by Adobe.’
  - wccrawford 2y ago
    That's exactly why they're saying it's "not responsive". It wasn't designed to be, and it's not.
- rad_gruchalski 2y ago
  PDF is over 30 years old. I’m pretty sure people had different idea of „portable” back then. It’s still really good for printing…
- 2y ago

This isn't the first time I've read a comment criticizing PDF, but it is the first time I can recall the Portable Document Format (PDF) being accused of low portability.

seanw444 2y ago

Yeah that is ironic regarding both the name, and the fact that it's one of the most viewable formats on any given system.

deskr 2y ago
> most viewable It is, but the UX trying to read a A4/letter sized PDF document on a phone is absolutely horrible.
- sophacles 2y ago
  This is basically the same reason I think sports cars are horrible... trying to fit a 10 ton roll of steel in the backseat is nearly impossible.
  - deskr 2y ago
    It shouldn't be. 10 tons of steel takes up just about 1,300 litres. That should fit nicely in the back seat. Remember to secure your load.
    - MikeTheGreat 2y ago
      > Remember to secure your load I don't know much about steel coils, and I'm hoping that something that fits in your back seat isn't as dangerous as those featured in YouTube videos, but the idea that the primary concern is just strapping the thing down is kinda funny https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6pn8n7MeY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6pn8n7MeY https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDGfk-dOjq8 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kDGfk-dOjq8 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steel+coil+unwinding https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=steel+coil+unwi...
  - nox101 2y ago
    No one wants to carry a 10 tons rol of steel in a sports car. The majority of people getting a PDF on their phone though, do want to be able to read the information in it easily and they can't. So no, that's not the same type of complaint
- drekipus 2y ago
  only a4 sized pdf. You can make a phone-sized PDF and it'll be just fine. it's not the file format.
  - chrismorgan 2y ago
    And then the experience on a larger screen will be bad.
  - rixed 2y ago
    It is, unless PDF supports reflow?
    - sethammons 2y ago
      By design it doesn't. It is a stated goal.
esperent 2y ago
Shouldn't "portable" in the context of a document format mean "comfortably viewable on most systems" rather than "yeah you can view it but it's gonna suck and you'll get eye strain"?
- metadat 2y ago
  I believe this is called "responsive design", a useful but differentiated concept. It's pretty cool how PDFs don't typically load resources from an external website or CDN. They are self-contained, and thus demonstrably portable. Gross analogy: Have you ever been to a multi-day music festival? A port-o-potty in the dark is disgusting, but still somewhat useable compared the alternative of going to the bathroom in public. PDF artifacts are in the same ballpark.
  - seanw444 2y ago
    Also, I think I'd personally dislike a "portable document format" that doesn't look identical on all systems. By making it visually identical everywhere, you of course sacrifice comfort on smaller screens by nature. But to me that's an acceptable tradeoff for knowing I'm looking at the document, as it was intended to be displayed. I don't think of PDFs the way I think of websites. My physical papers don't reflow text.

nox101 2y ago

I'd call it low-portability. They're designed for large screens yet they're often viewed on phones where you need to manually zoom in and view each page some tiny portion at a time. Was at a restaurant with a QR code that led to a PDF if their paper menu. It was horrible. For reference it was the Ralph Lauren Cafe in Omotesando Tokyo.

musicale 2y ago
Large screen phone + landscape mode if needed usually works for me.
sethammons 2y ago
A pdf should not reflow nor be responsive. Aside from zoom/pan, how else could you possibly interact? I think it works fantastic, like holding a magnifying glass and panning around a surface
- wittjeff 2y ago
  https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reading-pdfs-reflow-accessibility-features.html https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/reading-pdfs-reflow-ac...
  - lostlogin 2y ago
    Oh wow, that’s awful. ‘Like the web, but on a pdf and done entirely by Adobe.’
- wccrawford 2y ago
  That's exactly why they're saying it's "not responsive". It wasn't designed to be, and it's not.
rad_gruchalski 2y ago
PDF is over 30 years old. I’m pretty sure people had different idea of „portable” back then. It’s still really good for printing…
2y ago