At 11:17 AM 3/27/96 -0500, you wrote:
>
Well, I can't resist, I'll throw in my 2 cents...


Look at it from a business' point of view.  You have a huge database of
information(datasheets, etc) in Postscript form for your paper-based
marketing materials.

The cost of translating them to HTML in a professional manner is
astronomical, especially for what is an unproven but trendy marketing
medium.  That kind of committment is not going to come quickly.

PDF files allow you to take your files and put them in a format that takes
~1/3 the space of PS for minimal effort.  Now your web page just needs to
consist of a your pages directing someone to the proper data sheet, with
minimal HTML coding.

It means you get your information out on the web NOW, which is much better
for us, and for less effort, which is better for the company


>>  Acrobat is a makeshift invention---a generalized, site-independent
>>  Postscript. It is generated by Adobe software called Distiller. The
>>  advantages are that it is easy to produce (any program that can
>>  generate Postscript can, via Distiller, produce PDF; that includes
>>  word processors and printed page scanners). It is thus popular with
>>  unsophisticated companies that recently switched from ASCII BBSes and
>>  are still dazzled by WYSIWYG.

I'd think that any company that had a BBS a few years ago is probably
more sophisitcated than those that never heard of the Internet until 6 months
ago.


>>  The disadvantages of PDF result from its unstructured nature: in
>>  general it is impossible to automatically extract information from
>>  PDF files, index them, etc. (unlike properly executed SGML/HTML).

But is sure beats trying to use ghostscript on a PS file :-)
>>
>>          przemek
>>
>
>OK people, let's not start a flame war over this again.
>
>PDF - disadvantages: not easily searchable, not hyperlinked, may not work
>                     on your platform.
>
>      advantages: can do a search in acroread, prints exactly as original
>                  document, not hyperlinked.
>
>Roger (I love my computer, I HATE WITH A PASSION most online documentation
>        and feel people that do html based docs should be flogged.  In
>        particular I wish Cisco had that #$&% CDROM shoved...)
>
>
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Jonathan King        *  Unitrode Integrated Circuits  * king@uicc.com
Phone 603 424-2410   *  7 Continental Boulevard       *
FAX   603 424-3460   *  Merrimack, NH   03054-0399    *
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