Online Formats WAS Disabling Print

[Sandra Charker <scharker -at- connectives -dot- com>]

We've had speculation about why users preferred HTML to PDF, but Is there 
data? Jessica - did you ask them? did they tell you?

Not to add to the speculation (much), but most of the discussions about 
formats that we have here seems to compare reading online with reading from 
print. I'd like to ask about your preferences, if any, between online formats.


Preamble:

I find PDF blurry. I find it tiring and uncomfortable, and I have far more 
difficulty concentrating on the material when it's in PDF than I do when 
it's in HTML. I don't know if I'm unique, in a minority, or part of a 
silent majority. So I thought I'd ask here...


Questions:

1. Do you notice a difference between reading PDF online and reading HTML 
online?

2. Do you have a preference either way? If so, which one?

Short answers might be best sent directly to me and I'll summarise them.


Explanations:

I'm less interested in reasons for my discomfort than I am in establishing 
the existence or otherwise of a general problem. User preference would only 
be one part of a general problem, of course. Even if it's true that a large 
number of people dislike / avoid / notice PDF online, that doesn't 
necessarily mean that they comprehend or remember it less than other online 
formats. Suggestive though.

I've been told at various times that there's something wrong with my 
monitors (must have been blurry on over 2 dozen monitors at 4 resolutions 
by now), my eyes (clever of them to identify file formats like that), that 
it's all in my imagination (possible), that it's poor choice of fonts (also 
possible, but I've never seen a clear one). Those explanations all assume 
that the problem is me (possible, but  *highly improbable <g>).

I think the most likely reason is that PDF is just too good for online: 
screen resolutions still can't cope with those smooth curves. But if that's 
so why don't more people have difficulty with it? And why would people on 
this list who usually demonstrate a strong interest in helping people find 
and retain information recommend a format if there's objective evidence 
that it's counter-productive.

I've also wondered if it's possible that power supplies have some effect. 
This seems bizarre (especially if you're working on a laptop), but I have 
been told that the ancient CGA standard was readable in the US instead of 
the indistinguishable insult that it was where I saw it. If anyone has read 
PDFs (preferably the same document) in north America and elsewhere in the 
world, it would be interesting to know if you noticed any difference.


Thanks,

Sandra Charker

scharker -at- connectives -dot- com