6 ms·

It says I have to download some program called Adobe Flash to view this.

by alaskamiller 18y ago

pclark 18y ago
Scribd is great because rather than using PDF like most browsers, it uses flash
- gaius 18y ago
  The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. I am, I suspect, much older than most HN readers (early 30s) and I remember a thing called RTF. It amuses me to see it constantly reinvented. And not improved.
  - pclark 18y ago
    I think YouTube is the best use of Flash. Do you mean Rich Text Format? It's used by OS X a fair amount. Didn't know Microsoft invented it, neat.
    - prakash 18y ago
      microsoft also came up with XMLHttpRequest!
    - gaius 18y ago
      The point being that a standard format for documents is a solved problem and has been for years.
      - marketer 18y ago
        It's not that simple. You need a format that can represent any kind of document. Good luck trying to convert a powerpoint with complex shapes and background images into a RTF. There are only two formats that can really do that, while being viewed inside a browser - swf and images.
        tokenadult 18y ago
        Does anyone want a PowerPoint with complex shapes and background images? http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB&topic_id=1 http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0... http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/ http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
        marketer 18y ago
        Nobody is stopping you from using latex,beamer,and emacs and taking a weekend to finish your slides. But if you want something done in fifteen minutes that looks good, use powerpoint.
        eru 18y ago
        I am faster using TeX's beamer classes than fighting Powerpoint's UI.
      - jcl 18y ago
        RTF is a good format for editable documents, but it's not such a good format for documents that need to look exactly the same on all platforms. The format that PDF actually reinvents is Postscript.
  - prakash 18y ago
    The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. annoy everyone?
  - unalone 18y ago
    Games? Flash provides a flexible, fast format that makes game design very easy. The best-of-the-best Flash games really thrive because they're so compatible with things. Kottke mentioned an excellent one yesterday: http://www.playauditorium.com/ http://www.playauditorium.com/ That said: Flash is not meant for text. It's overkill. It's like using a tank to scare kids off your lawn.
  - briansmith 18y ago
    What about Google Finance and NY Times infographics?
  - nickb 18y ago
    The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. I have one! Recording audio and video :)
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- andr 18y ago
  ...and shows documents in a 400px-wide box, so there's space for advertisement on the side.
  - alaskamiller 18y ago
    You should be a VC.
jrockway 18y ago
I like their error message: "Hello, you have an old version of Adobe Flash Player. To use iPaper (and lots of other stuff on the web) you need to get the latest Flash player." I guess they are trying to say, "It's not just us that wants to depend on a big chunk of proprietary software! It's EVERYONE!" Incidentally, since I removed Flash, the only "problem" is that ads don't work. (YouTube videos can be played externally, and the ads inside them obviously go away when you do that.) All in all, Scribd should really degrade to HTML for those without Flash. Either generate images with gv, or extract the text like Google does.
- axod 18y ago
  How would they be able to display plain text/images without flash? I'm not following. Is that even possible???
  - blasdel 18y ago
    0. You clearly already have a gmail account. 1. Search your mail using a query of: "pdf has:attachment". 2. Select a thread, and click the "View" link for the PDF attachment. 3. Bask in its glorious presentation, with selectable text, using naught but javascript and images.
    - andreyf 18y ago
      sarcasm_detector.recalibrate()
    - ljlolel 18y ago
      "You may have Frontotemporal Dementia. Please see your physician." http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F15%2F1629245&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F15%2F16...
    - blasdel 18y ago
      I guess I misread axod as saying "how would they implement a nice PDF/Word viewer without using a plugin?"
marketer 18y ago
Do you download it every time you post Youtube links on your blog?

It says I have to download some program called Adobe Flash to view this.

pclark 18y ago

Scribd is great because rather than using PDF like most browsers, it uses flash

gaius 18y ago
The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. I am, I suspect, much older than most HN readers (early 30s) and I remember a thing called RTF. It amuses me to see it constantly reinvented. And not improved.
- pclark 18y ago
  I think YouTube is the best use of Flash. Do you mean Rich Text Format? It's used by OS X a fair amount. Didn't know Microsoft invented it, neat.
  - prakash 18y ago
    microsoft also came up with XMLHttpRequest!
  - gaius 18y ago
    The point being that a standard format for documents is a solved problem and has been for years.
    - marketer 18y ago
      It's not that simple. You need a format that can represent any kind of document. Good luck trying to convert a powerpoint with complex shapes and background images into a RTF. There are only two formats that can really do that, while being viewed inside a browser - swf and images.
      - tokenadult 18y ago
        Does anyone want a PowerPoint with complex shapes and background images? http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0001yB&topic_id=1 http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0... http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/ http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/
        marketer 18y ago
        Nobody is stopping you from using latex,beamer,and emacs and taking a weekend to finish your slides. But if you want something done in fifteen minutes that looks good, use powerpoint.
        eru 18y ago
        I am faster using TeX's beamer classes than fighting Powerpoint's UI.
    - jcl 18y ago
      RTF is a good format for editable documents, but it's not such a good format for documents that need to look exactly the same on all platforms. The format that PDF actually reinvents is Postscript.
- prakash 18y ago
  The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. annoy everyone?
- unalone 18y ago
  Games? Flash provides a flexible, fast format that makes game design very easy. The best-of-the-best Flash games really thrive because they're so compatible with things. Kottke mentioned an excellent one yesterday: http://www.playauditorium.com/ http://www.playauditorium.com/ That said: Flash is not meant for text. It's overkill. It's like using a tank to scare kids off your lawn.
- briansmith 18y ago
  What about Google Finance and NY Times infographics?
- nickb 18y ago
  The world is still awaiting a good use for Flash. I have one! Recording audio and video :)
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
andr 18y ago
...and shows documents in a 400px-wide box, so there's space for advertisement on the side.
- alaskamiller 18y ago
  You should be a VC.

jrockway 18y ago

I like their error message: "Hello, you have an old version of Adobe Flash Player. To use iPaper (and lots of other stuff on the web) you need to get the latest Flash player." I guess they are trying to say, "It's not just us that wants to depend on a big chunk of proprietary software! It's EVERYONE!" Incidentally, since I removed Flash, the only "problem" is that ads don't work. (YouTube videos can be played externally, and the ads inside them obviously go away when you do that.) All in all, Scribd should really degrade to HTML for those without Flash. Either generate images with gv, or extract the text like Google does.

axod 18y ago
How would they be able to display plain text/images without flash? I'm not following. Is that even possible???
- blasdel 18y ago
  0. You clearly already have a gmail account. 1. Search your mail using a query of: "pdf has:attachment". 2. Select a thread, and click the "View" link for the PDF attachment. 3. Bask in its glorious presentation, with selectable text, using naught but javascript and images.
  - andreyf 18y ago
    sarcasm_detector.recalibrate()
  - ljlolel 18y ago
    "You may have Frontotemporal Dementia. Please see your physician." http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F15%2F1629245&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F15%2F16...
  - blasdel 18y ago
    I guess I misread axod as saying "how would they implement a nice PDF/Word viewer without using a plugin?"

marketer 18y ago

Do you download it every time you post Youtube links on your blog?