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Subject:Re: HTML as document source? From:David Blyth <dblyth -at- QUALCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:39:48 -0700
>I really don't see how HTML could be the source.
Why not? Netscape's version of HTML 3.2 is getting sophisticated,
HTML 4.0 will be more so.
What's important (to management) is information - not presentation.
You lose some formatting on the Web, yes, but you also gain features
not available to hard copy documents - forms, for instance. It's
more than a fair exchange.
The important thing is not to hang on too much to hard copy. We
have to give up our godlike power over paper.... in order to gain
much greater godlike power over the Web.
>I suppose the information
>could be stored in some sort of document database and then imported into
>both places, but they still wouldn't be able to edit the stuff online
>because it still wouldn't be the source.
Again, why not? Check out Netscape's 2.0 server suite. The Enterprise
Server chops up a document into byte sized chunks, shuffles them as
desired, then creates a Web page as needed. _And_ each
piece can be version controlled, because they're in a database.
My suggestion is to be as aggresive in your approach as possible.
You're merely one of the first in the trend. Thus... my suggestion
is to start with HTML then work backwards towards hardcopy. The
Enterprise server already makes something like this possible... and
your managers will eventually figure that out.
But if you tell them about it first, you'll get the credit.
I'd love to have your job right about now....
David (The Quaint) Blyth
Technical Writer & Web Site Designer
Qualcomm
The usual disclaimers apply - QUALCOMM isn't that crazy.
Blodo Poa Maximus
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