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Scribd got better! It's comparable, perhaps better, than google's viewer: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leafpetersen.com%2Fleaf%2Fpublicat

by 6ren 13y ago

Scribd got better! It's comparable, perhaps better, than google's viewer: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leafpetersen.com%2Fleaf%2Fpublications%2Fhs2013%2Fhaskell-gap.pdf https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leafpete...

sambeau 13y ago
Did Scribd get 'better' in an empirical performance comparison with google's viewer? For me to take such a comparison seriously, you need to present evidence to us transparently, with the understanding that every such comparison inevitably relies on making choices and is hence only meaningful insofar as those choices can be seen and understood by the reader
- DanWaterworth 13y ago
  I'm not sure why you were down voted. I thought what you said was very witty, but I suppose it only works if you read the paper.
jkldotio 13y ago
Isn't Google's viewer really the default PDF viewer in Chrome? The one which doesn't add a toolbar or any tooltips that are popping up despite my mouse not hovering over them. Scribd is for people who want to share a PDF but don't know how to do it in any other way. It's pretty much never been welcome on HN because that's the only problem it solves and everything else it does is inferior to just having a native PDF you can view with no problems and save with no problems. We are not the target market so I never understood why it was pushed on HN at all.
- soganess 13y ago
  Chrome use an unbranded version of foxit[1][2]. [1]http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-chromes-pdf-plugin-uses-foxit.html http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-chromes-pdf-... [2]independently verified to me by a foxit employee.
- omaranto 13y ago
  > Isn't Google's viewer really the default PDF viewer in Chrome? The one which doesn't add a toolbar or any tooltips that are popping up despite my mouse not hovering over them. No, it's not, unless, Google figured out a way to install their PDF viewer plugin in my Firefox without me noticing. ;) The link 6ren posted is to Google Docs's file viewing component, now sold separately: https://docs.google.com/viewer https://docs.google.com/viewer I'm not completely sure, but I think that for PDFs what the Google Docs viewer does is (1) generate a PNG image of each page, (2) extract the text and put in on the page as invisible HTML, positioned carefully to correspond to the PNG. The point of (2) is that it makes text selectable.
- j_s 13y ago
  > why it was pushed on HN at all I agree scribd is terrible/useless (personal opinion) and does catch a lot of flack here, but it's YC S06. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1326047 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1326047
venomsnake 13y ago
Thanks. PDF is PITA to read on anything but paper anyway, but every little bit helps I suppose.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  PDFs are fairly easy to read on computers, especially high res iPads.

by 6ren 13y ago

sambeau 13y ago

Did Scribd get 'better' in an empirical performance comparison with google's viewer? For me to take such a comparison seriously, you need to present evidence to us transparently, with the understanding that every such comparison inevitably relies on making choices and is hence only meaningful insofar as those choices can be seen and understood by the reader

DanWaterworth 13y ago
I'm not sure why you were down voted. I thought what you said was very witty, but I suppose it only works if you read the paper.

jkldotio 13y ago

Isn't Google's viewer really the default PDF viewer in Chrome? The one which doesn't add a toolbar or any tooltips that are popping up despite my mouse not hovering over them. Scribd is for people who want to share a PDF but don't know how to do it in any other way. It's pretty much never been welcome on HN because that's the only problem it solves and everything else it does is inferior to just having a native PDF you can view with no problems and save with no problems. We are not the target market so I never understood why it was pushed on HN at all.

soganess 13y ago
Chrome use an unbranded version of foxit[1][2]. [1]http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-chromes-pdf-plugin-uses-foxit.html http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-chromes-pdf-... [2]independently verified to me by a foxit employee.
omaranto 13y ago
> Isn't Google's viewer really the default PDF viewer in Chrome? The one which doesn't add a toolbar or any tooltips that are popping up despite my mouse not hovering over them. No, it's not, unless, Google figured out a way to install their PDF viewer plugin in my Firefox without me noticing. ;) The link 6ren posted is to Google Docs's file viewing component, now sold separately: https://docs.google.com/viewer https://docs.google.com/viewer I'm not completely sure, but I think that for PDFs what the Google Docs viewer does is (1) generate a PNG image of each page, (2) extract the text and put in on the page as invisible HTML, positioned carefully to correspond to the PNG. The point of (2) is that it makes text selectable.
j_s 13y ago
> why it was pushed on HN at all I agree scribd is terrible/useless (personal opinion) and does catch a lot of flack here, but it's YC S06. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1326047 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1326047

venomsnake 13y ago

Thanks. PDF is PITA to read on anything but paper anyway, but every little bit helps I suppose.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
PDFs are fairly easy to read on computers, especially high res iPads.